Yesterday I had a great conversation with Brian Eberly and his team about KidsTown. They are going through the same process that we went through last summer in re-visioning ministry to children at their church.
It was an awesome conversation, but I left it with one prevailing thought:
Holy Discontent + Faithfulness to the Word of God = People thinking you are nuts
I think our staff is a bunch of raving lunatics! We’re a group of lay people and paid staff who are crazy enough to think that we can play a role in changing a community for Jesus Christ. But instead of us being the agent of change we hope to best position ourselves in a place where grace and mercy and forgiveness of sins can flow through what we are doing… therefore being a conduit between lost people and a holy God.
What is "holy discontent?" I think Bill Hybels used this phrase but don’t quote me on that. It’s merely the action of being stirred by God to say that what we’re doing isn’t good enough.
What is "faithfulness to the Word of God?" Seems like a no-brainer but a lot of people are discontent with what is happening in their lives and in their churches but don’t seek God to find the answers. As our staff stays in God’s Word we are pushed to more and more bold attempts to reach a dead and dying world with the love of Jesus. This isn’t a judgment, but I think most churches are more concerned about keeping the people they have happy than they are being faithful to what God is stirring in their hearts. You hear pastors say it with phrases like "You move a church one inch at a time" or "This is just a trend." Um… what if God is telling you to move a mile in a minute or to chase a cultural trend? I think a lot of people aren’t willing to make moves that God has laid on their hearts and revealed to them in the Bible simply because they want to stay faithful to what is getting them paid.
What is "People thinking we are nuts?" Heck, I think we’re nuts too! Demonstrating faith is often doing something that makes no logical sense. Faith itself is a "crazy" concept. It makes no logical sense to put 100% of my faith and trust in an unseen God. But it does take faith. And when you put your faith and trust in that unseen God… doing crazy things for Him seems less and less crazy.
Here’s a fact about my walk with Christ, maybe it’s true for some of you. "If people in your life don’t think you are crazy… If they think you are completely logical, you’re probably not demonstrating faith."
Abraham moving was crazy.
Moses going to Pharaoh was crazy
Esther talking to the king was nuts
David confronting the kings was raving mad
Peter putting down his nets to fish for men was insane
Peter going to Cornelius’s house made no sense at all, it was a waste of time
On and on through the Bible we see people taking great steps of faith… steps that made no logical sense and got them labeled as "crazy" by the people around them.
How are you demonstrating a faith that is crazy?
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