Be Willing to Move On and Go Where God Calls
You
Read Jeremiah 48: 11-12
In the “Set Up A Contextual Analysis…” study we talked about the YOU
Now, I want to reflect upon
another YOU
With the hiking map, there
is one major difference. This time there
is not a straight line from point A to point B.
This time the route can take you in a very uneven circular path with
choices along the way. With a hiking map
we might back track in some spots. We
may need to choose between a rugged shortcut and a longer, easier route. The trail can take us around a lake so that
we have to look closely to pick up the trail on the other side. We might even find ourselves on nothing more
than a deer path, wondering if we took a wrong turn! If we stick to the trail
and watch for the markers along the way, we should have a great experience. If, however, we choose to never try hiking
the trail at all, we will miss out on great experiences and wonderful
blessings.
Without a vision the people perish.
Proverbs 29:18
I have never heard of a
vision for either individuals or a faith community where God said, “Hey, kick
back, relax and let life happen. I’ll
bless you.” In scripture after scripture
we see that God is calling people to something new. God called Moses to set the
Hebrews free and they ended up in a desert searching for their promised land
for forty years. God called Abraham to
prepare to go to a place God would show him, but didn’t give a clue as to where
he and his family were going. The
disciples were called to leave what they’d always known and follow Jesus; later
they would give up the lives they’d known to begin the Christian church, though
they may not have realized that was what they were doing. They all had a starting place and then they
began their journey. The difference is
that they weren’t exactly sure where they were going to end up because this was
not a “from point A to point B” kind of experience.
What all of these people had
in common is that they were willing to place their lives in God’s hands and
begin a journey that would bring them great experiences and wonderful
blessings.
I took a tour of a winery many years back and learned that when you
make wine you put the ingredients together and then put it into huge containers
to ferment. Every so often these large
metal blades within the container electrically start up and slowly stir the
fermenting mixture for just a short period of time before shutting down
again. It was explained that this was to
keep the wine from settling and forming a gooey-gobby
sediment, known as dregs or lees, on the bottom of the tank. If this sediment formed, the wine was ruined
and had to be thrown away.
Someone asked if this is why people who make their own wine have to
turn the bottles a quarter of a turn every day during the fermenting
process. The tour guide affirmed this
and said that different wines call for different times and turns of the bottle,
but that this process was crucial.
Again, if the wine inside wasn’t moved periodically it would form dregs
and that would ruin it.
After the tour I had a moment alone with the tour guide and asked,
“What about in Jesus’ day? They made
wine all the time and didn’t have huge stainless steel containers or even glass
bottles. How did they keep the dregs from forming on the bottom?” The tour guide smiled and said, “They moved
it from container to container. They had
many different sized containers, so it might be in a taller, thinner container
and then be moved to a shorter, rounder container. If they didn’t move the wine around, the
dregs or lees formed at the bottom and ruined the wine. Once that sediment
formed, the whole mixture would put off a terrible stench. They would have no
choice but to throw it away and start over.”
______________________________________________________________________
With that information let’s look at Jeremiah 48: 11-12:
God appears to be upset with
As John Maxwell once said:
“There are three times when people are ready to change:
· When they hurt enough that they have to
· When they learn enough that they want to
· When the receive enough that they’re able to”
It sounds like
How do churches become willing to go with God and not become so set in their ways that they find themselves fossilized?
·
Be open to
change. The seven deadliest words in the
history of the Christian faith are: We’ve
Never Done It That Way Before. Study
the scriptures and the ways the Spirit has moved people throughout
history. Meet with other churches and
find out what kinds of things they are doing; allow your church to try new
things.
·
Be Committed,
Accountable, and Responsible to Jesus’ teachings and God’s
purpose. Look honestly at the mission of
your church. When was the last time it
was revised? The mission is who we are
as a community of faith. If your mission
hasn’t changed over the years, you may find that ministry in your church is
beginning to stink.
·
Be ready to
venture forth in faith. Does your church
have a vision? Where has God called you to go, and how will you get there? There are valuable resources to assist
churches in vision casting. There will
be an ultimate big picture goal, and then smaller goals (with steps) in how to
attain that goal. Remember that
venturing forth will require change.
·
Be
Flexible. If we are to move and go with God we have to be
flexible. “Blessed are the flexible
for they shall not be broken. Hurricane
Andrew came through our neighborhood when we were living in southern
How do we discern that God is calling us to move on?
·
The people will
seem dissatisfied with just about everything in the church. I’m not talking about those who are always
dissatisfied with everything in the church. I’m talking about your influencers; those who
hold leadership positions and the folks who typically seem quite happy with
things.
·
The leadership
of the church will feel as though they are being resisted in the major areas of
ministry.
·
There will be an
overall frustration within the life of the congregation.
·
People will
begin to talk about feeling useless to the church; that they have nothing to
offer.
·
There will be a
sense that something is missing/lacking in the life of
the church.
·
There will be
those who sense that somehow your church is out of date; like God has moved on
and you’ve been left behind.
A seminary colleague once confided in me that his church, once a
glorious institution in town, had become a dismal place for him and some of the
others in the congregation. He had some
folks come to him and say, “You know Reverend, things
just feel out of sorts around here this past year. I can’t put my finger on it.” He met with the leadership of the church and
they began to work on some new ideas for worship and Christian education. People heard the news of these proposed
changes and were immediately up in arms.
My colleague said, “
I suggested that he pray about how he and his congregation might move
on and go with God. His response was,
“Oh no! That would mean change. This
congregation’s biggest four letter word is: C-H-A-N-G-E. It isn’t going to happen.”
He resigned one year later.
Here are some practical suggestions for how to lead a congregation
through change:
1.
Begin to get
honest and open about the need to move on and go with God.
·
Use references
regarding the Hebrews, Abraham, the disciples, and the early church leaders.
·
Talk about Jesus,
who is the same yesterday, today and forever, and the need to get off of our
blessed assurances and follow Him today.
2.
Open up to other
churches and find out how they keep from settling on their dregs.
·
How do they keep
allowing themselves to be poured out into different vessels in order to stay
fresh and alive in ministry?
3.
Develop a
self-imposed ruthlessness.
·
If the church is
not moving, it is not fair to sit and cast the blame on others. We participate in the life of our
congregations by choice, and we need to be ruthless in owning our part in the
problems
·
We push
ourselves to do our part, and in doing our part we must be willing to be
committed, accountable and responsible.
We are the ones in control of our attitudes, words and actions. In this process we must be responsible for
them and strive to work toward the common goal God places before us.
4.
Learn to listen,
even when it’s agonizing.
·
We want to
listen to God and we want to listen to others, especially those who hold a
different opinion from our own.
·
In listening to others we become more aware of
our own beliefs and where we are in our own spiritual journey.
5.
Be patient.
·
Process takes
time. If your congregation is in the
midst of moving on and going with God in a new direction, be patient with
others, but also with yourself. Change
is seldom easy.
6.
Be aware of the
cycles in your church (Rev. Elder Lillie Brock has an excellent workshop on The Change Cycle).
·
Take notice of
any of the signs that might indicate that God is calling you to move on.
7.
Take time to
celebrate achievements.
·
Once the church completes
a particular time of growth or movement in a direction God has called us, we
need take time to play and celebrate!
8.
Continue to
build the body of Christ spiritually so that the next time God calls on us to
move and grow in some area, we will understand what is going on.
God has not called us to settle on our dregs or lees as
Does your church have a
mission statement? If so, what is
it? When did it come into effect? Is it still relevant for your church today?
Does your church have a
vision statement? If so, what is
it? When did it come into effect? In the big picture of your vision statement,
where would you put the YOU
As you read this, is your
congregation settling, on the move, or beginning to smell?
Would you say that your
church moves with God in the same way that the winds move through the weeping
willow, or is your faith community more like the rigid mighty oak?
Why do you suppose God chose
to force change in
If your church was not
willing to move on and go with God, would you prefer that God sent jug-smashers
to your church or simply ignored you and let you die out?
Why?
Circle the one that
typically leads your church to change:
Can you give an example?
Do you see anything from
this study that tells you that God is calling your church to move on?