ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
January 26, 2022
I’m sitting here looking at my office desk. On it, there is a tie that I wore on Sunday, but took off immediately after worship. There are three masks, including the one I wore into the church this morning. Beside me is a small microphone that I use when I do videos. There is also a small toy basketball, a pile of rocks, a broken Bluetooth speaker, a bottle of antacid and a bunch of books. What do these things have in common? Absolutely nothing! At the same time, I could say, Everything! Ministry is what they have in common. Ministry in the life of most churches is often a bunch of unrelated objects and ideas and other stuff held together with duct tape, chewing gum and a prayer. But this is where it gets real. Maybe your life is this wonderfully streamlined, never interrupted, always basking in a blissful experience. But for the other 99.9% of folks, it has some oddities and a whole lot of the unforeseen. You’re holding up one part of life with something built from something else, but for now it is working. When your spirit feels as if it has sprung a leak, you find yourself using the metaphorical clothespin, pantyhose and Tupperware lid to hold off any major spiritual repair for another day or two. Some people say the Bible is a user’s manual for life as if there is a table of contents where you can find your problem, turn to the specific page and discover a simple step-by-step answer. Is that really what it is? I think of it more as a collection of mostly successful failures and faithful people trying to hold it together with the Spirit helping to MacGyver a solution. If your faith is neat and polished and without a problem, more power to you. If your faith resembles my desk, which mine does, you will find good company at a church like Cypress Creek Christian Church.
Where it is messy and unpredictable, give me a moment of peace when I can tap into your creative spirit, O God. Discourage me from looking for simple and generic answers to the complex and ever-changing world in which I find myself. Yes, the answer is always love, but bringing that love to life might require a magnifying glass, two rubber bands and six marshmallows. If that’s the case, then let me begin my shopping list. Amen.
2 thoughts on “01-26-22”
Thank you, Bruce. This was the perfect thing for me to read this morning. Not exactly marching on this week but still holding the torch as we all wade through the waters of our own challenges and pray that the US doesn’t go to war. These times…..
There is a heaviness in the air brought about by a number of issues, many of them feel beyond my control. We keep moving.