Gleanings – Let It Go!
Note: Last week was a travel week. I attended the Anglican 1000 Summit, a church planting conference. There were a couple of takeaways.
One was this quote from Phil Ashey. “Leadership is disappointing people at a pace they can handle.” In a culture where we have embraced a mild form of Christianity this is especially true. Christian leaders are, if they are doing their job, always bursting bubbles of shallow expectations.
The next takeaway was from Mike Breen. “We have it backwards. We don’t start a church and then make disciples. We make disciples and then start a church.” He is right! The church consists of disciples, called out people. Gathering people before they are called out or knowing if they have been called out is fraught with danger, not to mention at odds with the work of Jesus.
It is good to be back in the saddle. Sorry. The conference was in Texas.
1 Corinthians 7:25-31
“For the form of this world is passing away.”
As I have said before, elections make me a bit anxious. Perhaps I allow some to transfer their anxiety on to me. Many believe the fate of the nation hangs in the balance. This next election, they say, will determine if we continue the slide toward oblivion or reverse course and regain the favor of God. Perhaps I should own the anxiety for myself. I believe these things to a great degree. Indeed the cynic in me says the slide will continue unabated regardless of who is elected. Set aside the talking points. Is there really any difference in the two parties in practice, where the rubber meets the road?
Paul seems to suggest I should not care. Whatever state I am in at the moment is transitory. Marriage, singleness, mourning, rejoicing – all these things are passing away. “The appointed time has grown very short.” The end game is on the horizon so what does it matter anyway! Don’t complicate life with matters fleeting as you will be investing your time and energy in the wrong things.
But, the time was not nearly as short as Paul imagined. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, months into years, then decades, centuries and millennia. But does it matter?
What we can glean from Paul here in his epistle to the Corinthians is to keep the main thing the main thing and that in every age. Why be anxious about who will govern me for the next four years before I am anxious about who will govern me for the next 400 million? This is wisdom from above and is true in every season and in every age. Keep watch. Be prepared. Be at one with our Maker.