Fear, My Own

When I graduated from collage I knew I was called to plant churches.  After eight years I’ve learned a lot about myself and my call.  I recognize I don’t have the same skills as others, nor do I want them, and I understand the deep esteem one must have for the art of planting a church.  With that said I realize my biggest fear – missing the point.

I grew up in the mid-south.  Many of the sermons preached with charisma were about Heaven and how I will answer for myself.  So I naturally didn’t want to fail God.  In many ways I still carry that attitude.  I fear as a massager of Christ that I will stand before Him and hear Him say, ‘You missed the point. All you did was use me to make yourself important. You don’t impress me one bit.’ (Matt 7.21-23, Message)

Starting a place for people to connect with God and others is a huge responsibility, not one to take lightly. Lastly, I’ve read a lot of books about church, theology, mission, and hope – each author with a different posture. Something I read a lot, and I don’t believe they mean harm, but it scares me is reducing “church” to business.  Jesus said, “Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans.  In trying to be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.” (Matt 7.6, Message)

Side note about me, something my wife and closest friends know – I rethink myself often.  I think that is why I work best in team, I have the freedom to throw out great ideas and people to help build upon or dismantle ideas.  Every time I finish a book I find myself rethinking our church structure, mottos, systems, etc again and again. I think this will always be an advantage to keep authentic and moving forward as a people of God.  To grow is to evolve and to evolve is to advance.  I hope Graceland is a community that is always growing, evolving with our world, and advancing the gospel.