I may show my age and many may not remember this but....in the Dr. Doolittle story there was an animal which was called the pushmi-pullyu (pronounced "push-me-pull-you"). It was a "gazelle-unicorn cross" which has two heads (one of each) at opposite ends of its body. When it tries to move, both heads try to go in opposite directions. Dr. Dolittle meets it on his voyage to Africa to save monkeys. I find myself in a place and time where that kind of effect is happening in the church and myself. Some time ago there was vision to build a church. It would start by building and education building and offices, then a fellowship hall then the new church. The church was during that time bursting at the seams. Suffice to say two pastors and eight years later and the vision while present in some is sustained by the reality of where the church is. I sat at a meeting where each side had valid points about why to keep the land and why to sell it. One side dealt with the :future of the church" while the other side felt that being a landlord was not the role of the church and we needed to get ourselves on firm financial footing. I see both sides. I have seen artists renderings and architect's drawings of what all three phases would look like. I have stood on that land and seen with my mind's eye the possibility of what it might look and feel like. On the same token, I know the present reality of churches like ours and so many others. Trouble paying bills. Trouble connecting stewardship of our resources and sharing with others. Difficulty connecting finding new and innovative ways to connect the congregation to the community in which it resides. How can we even consider taking care of a new facility when the current one is already a strain on our resources?
As I listened I heard to voices which reminded me of a DVD study "Living into the Change" by Dr.Gil Rendle. Dr. Rendle spoke at a retreat for our conference and the video was crafted into a study. Dr. Rendle in that study mentions that what is happening is a struggle of values. Some folks who come to church on a regular basis do so out of a spirituality of place. In other words, the church building is the place where they come to encounter God and grow int heir faith. This is where they grew up, their family came here, their history is in this place.
He also described a group of people who are not attached to a physical place. They find themselves more in the area of spirituality of the journey. They seem themselves on this trek, sometimes wondering, sometimes led, sometimes following. It is a journey in and of faith. They are no attached to the building. When they find a place they stay. As long as they are fed and encountering the Living God and growing, they stay. If they don't find what they are looking for on the journey in one place, they journey to another until they find that meat and potatoes for their soul. For this group the place is not as important as the journey is.
I saw and heard that around the table. As I had a chance to reflect this morning at breakfast with my lay leader, I was reminded of Moses and Aaron. There are many wanting to lead the church into a new era, and their are those who are more followers/helpers along the way in other words several"Moses" and "Aaron" people in the church. They know what needs to be done but struggle trying to bring folks along. They take the heat when things go wrong and give the glory when we are blessed. The people on one side remember when it was good in "ole Egypt" the pews full, Sunday School full and say, "if only we......" things would be like before. Others say God is leading us on a new journey saying, "Not sure where we are going but it will be better than where we are now." This wandering is where I see the church now.
I struggle a little with my role. Do I interject all the time? Or do I sit back and listen? Over the last three years I believe I have laid a foundation of trying to hear God's still small voice for us. I have tried to share sermons and teachings that help us dive deeper in our faith, to ask and wrestle with the tough questions. What I have begun to hear is those same words being used by current leaders, newer leaders, our "Aarons/Aaronesses" if you will, to help us weigh anchor and begin to move from the dry dock. I was excited to hear some of the statements and viewpoints. Is it fair to say I am seeing the fruit of the labor? Too early to tell, but I do know people have heard God's word for their life.
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