Stepping Out of our Comfort Zones
I was reminiscing with my aunt whose health was deteriorating. She talked about the morning that she and my uncle drove me to the bus station that would begin the journey from Eau Claire, WI to Air Force Basic Training in San Antonio, TX. “You left a scared boy and came back a confident young man,” she shared with a smile.
Stepping onto that bus changed my life. At 20 years old, I had never been more than an hour away from home for a sustained amount of time. It required a step of faith, trusting that no matter what happened, I would be okay. Lots of lessons were learned, countries traveled, and friendships nurtured. What seemed so scary in the beginning became a laundry list of blessings.
It can feel scary to let go of the familiar. But we can’t grow and mature if we stay stuck in the same place. The same can be said as a faith community. We are used to doing things in certain ways. Those practices have served us well over the years. But the world outside our building is changing by leaps and bounds and if we are not adapting to it, we will become disconnected from our community. Instead of sharing a life-giving Gospel, we will be seen as a museum of days gone by.
For decades, people were familiar with attending worship services. Today, fewer people know what worship practices are and expectations of services. Jesus didn’t allow his disciples to get too comfortable. He said, “GO!” Don’t wait for people to come to you. Go meet the people where they are. Befriend them. Let them know you care about them, which means you need to care about them. Authentically. Not as numbers, but as people.
There are a lot of apartment buildings and homes (new construction and old) within a 5-mile radius of LOG. How many of them know where and why we exist? What must we do as a community and as individuals to let them know where we are and why they might want to participate with us? What can we do to show them we are making an impact through faith in our community?
As Christ followers, we need to be careful of becoming too comfortable. Are we waiting for people to come to us? Are we waiting for someone else to do the work? How can each of us take responsibility for Christ’s calling to follow him? Our neighbors need to know we are here and we love them. Tell me how we can make it happen.
Peace,
Pastor Randy