I just spent the afternoon chopping vegetables. I went to the market this morning and picked up some lovely produce. As my husband and son entertained themselves I chopped and prepped for the coming week. It makes weeknights easier and dinner time more enjoyable. As I stood there chopping and preparing for the future I started thinking, after all when you’re chopping carrots what else are you going to do?
When you think about it, much of life is really about preparing for the future. We do laundry so we don’t have to walk naked around town. We wash the dishes so we can eat again later. We clean so that in the future we’re not surrounded by a terrible mess. You can see where I am going. What we do now has impacts on the future. What we decide to put our energy into today will definitely affect tomorrow.
So where am I going with this you ask? It’s rather simple. If what we decide to put our energy into today affects tomorrow then we really need to consider what we are doing today. This is so true in many areas of life. The energy we put into our kids, our work, our friendships all have lasting consequences but for today I’m thinking particularly of faith and our churches.
Where are we putting our energy?
Sadly it would seem to me that much of our energy is going into keeping us happy. Instead of making decisions that would benefit the church of the future we are making decisions to stay put and stay content. It’s troubling because these decisions to freeze in place and not make any significant changes will impact those who come behind us, if there is anything of us left to come to. We need to be bold. We need to have vision. We need to see that it’s not about us.
It’s hard to do that, to look beyond what makes us happy and see that there are others in the world who need this news too. We need to change our perspective and see churches as not places where we come but instead as who we are. We need to find ways to engage those who are seeking and not exist strictly for ourselves.
Until we realize that what we do today ultimately impacts our future I don’t think we’ll be able to make significant progress. It’s not enough to just keep hanging in. We need to live well and thrive. Our decisions impact our ability to do this.
And to think this rant formed while just hanging out and chopping some carrots. Can you imagine what I might say if given a few hours to myself to reflect and dream. Perhaps it’s best if I stick to the kitchen…
