Won’t we all be glad when this CATScan2 is over! Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is just the beginning. Yep. The beginning. At times we may think that doing “church” is no more than just deciding on what we can do. While that is important, it is not the end all. Granted, we have to have a starting point and this is as good as any. But, we can’t stop here.
Over the last several months I’ve shared some of my thoughts on what doing church is. Too often all we’re doing is trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Not easy, is it? Who would do such a silly thing, we might ask. To paraphrase that great theologian, Pogo (the lead character in the long-running comic strip by the same name), “We have met the silly people and they are us.” Yes, us.
I’ve found it interesting (and frustrating as well) that the things that never would be tolerated in the business world are both accepted and tolerated in the church. Maybe it’s an aversion to risk. Or, change is viewed as too difficult. There are a myriad of answers as to why. That may be why the church can get in a rut. By the way, my mentor and dear friend, Tom McClung, once defined a rut as a grave with both ends kicked out. I like that. It’s a great description of the traps into which a church can fall.
Can that happen to us? Of course it can, as it can happen to any church, even those we might deem the most “successful.” Generally that is because churches are risk-averse, and are content in doing the same old same old, adding new ministries, but not necessarily listening to where the Holy Spirit may be calling us. Hmm. Almost sounds like that old adage (which I’ve shared before): The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Not going to happen.
So, where might we go following CATScan2? I don’t know. But I do know that possibly we’ll have to leave our comfort zones and move into uncharted waters. It means that change (that too-be-avoided word!) is a distinct possibility. It means we have to consider doing church in new ways, ways that can run counter to what we’ve always done. And therein lies the risk – and the challenge!
I’m excited about the CATScan2. It may (I won’t say it will) lead us into new directions about which we’ve not thought. And that can lead us into considering the challenge of reimagining church, a church unlike any of which we may have been a part in the past. I can’t speak for you, but I find that exciting – and scary. Sailing into uncharted waters can be like that. Where is God leading us? Again, I don’t know. What I do know is that we can depend upon God’s abiding presence, and upon the work of the Holy Spirit in us. It’s going to be an exciting journey. Hope on board! See you on the road.
Grace and peace,
Mike
September 20, 2015