Be The Church.

When we’re born, we don’t CHOOSE who is in our family.  We don’t choose our dad, our mom, or our sibling if we have them.  No one takes our vote.  Our opinion and influence doesn’t shape these decisions.  I’m not saying we don’t love them – for the record I love my dad, my mom, and brothers! – we just don’t CHOOSE the people who will make up our family. 

HOWEVER, we do influence and shape the TYPE of family we will be.  Collectively, each person contributes to the overall family culture – how we’ll function, communicate, handle conflict, what level of love and loyalty we’ll express, how we’ll celebrate our differences or be turned off by them, and so on.  Through it all, we will be a family.  And we’ll shape what kind of family we will be.

For those who join into a local gathering of believers, we don’t CHOOSE who will be part of a particular church. We can invite and influence others and pray they’ll be receptive to the gospel of Jesus, but in reality a gathering of believers includes people we ultimately have no say in.  I’m not saying we don’t love them!  We just don’t CHOOSE the people who will make up our spiritual “family”.

HOWEVER, we do influence and shape the TYPE of family we will be.

For the past several months I’ve been logging thoughts in a journal on the type of gathering I want to belong to – my spiritual family. This past Sunday night at The Gathering I shared these thoughts and the type of community I dream for us as an expression of Granger Community Church in Elkhart.  We aren’t just a campus of GCC; we ARE GCC.  We don’t just mirror a campus – we carry a mission. We are the Church.

Let’s Be The Church.

• A place where we come to treasure Jesus above all other things, people, or desires.  Knowing Him is our greatest pursuit.
• A place where frequent conversations take place that are centered around spiritual things, where all are personally encouraged to fall deeper in love with Jesus.
• A place where all are accepted and relationships are cultivated.  Where love traverses differences and all are embraced no matter who they are, where they’ve been, or what they’ve done.
• A place where people know and are known in such a way that we sense each others needs – be it relational, emotional, spiritual, financial, or physical – and attempt to meet those needs whenever we’re able.
• A place where people believe in what God is doing in such a way that they give their best – generously, sacrificially, and joyfully.  A place where our best abilities, resources, time, energy, and influence are used to help others know Jesus and grow in Jesus.

Let’s choose to Be the Church.

• A place where people want to participate, not just observe.
• Where people come early and stay late.
• Where people come with anticipation and expectation.
• Where all people – regardless of tenure or perceived maturity – are regularly making significant decisions to move forward in their faith.
• A place led by gifted, godly men and women who are not just strategic thinkers or idea generators but spiritual leaders.  Spiritual leaders who lead with joy, who pray for those they lead regularly, who love those they lead evidently, who love Jesus and his church obviously, and who model authenticity and faith as they too take next steps in their walk with Christ.
• A place where the honor, glory, fame of the Father God is the driving force behind all we do.
• A place filled with people possessing an audacious faith to change the world around them in this generation.

Be the Church.

• A place where stories are told – frequently:  stories of broken lives being restored and made whole, stories of marriages that were fractured being healed, stories of addictions being overcome, stories of people who had lost all hope not only finding hope but sharing that hope with others.  Stories of casual, even calloused followers of Jesus becoming white hot once again with passion and purpose.  Stories of miracles – of hearts healed, of bodies healed.  For my kids to grow up in a place where they see and experience miracles.  A place where these stories and more permeate our daily conversations.
• A place where these stories are told – not only in our conversations – but in conversations throughout the community around us.  People talk about it, they sense it, they see it, they’re drawn to it, and they themselves become part of the story.
• A place experiencing transformation and joy in a way that only God can author; only God can orchestrate, only God can take credit for it.  I have no interest in being a part of something man-made, or emotion-driven, or guilt-driven – but Spirit driving.  A place that is undeniably His place filled with His people who are filled with Him.  And this can only happen when we choose to Be the Church.

Be the Church.