A church, a building, a family and lake langano

A church, a building, a family and lake langano

Often times I am asked, "why doesn't UCF have a building yet?" We are a church that is 6 years old and most new churches our age have already bought land (or maybe I should say are making payments on land) and are trying to rally their people to build a building. I sometimes get a little defensive when I am asked this question, but the ultimate answer is, "Up to this point, I simply have not been led by God to lead us into a land/building process." God has given me certain ideas about what we will build once he says "go for it." But for now, I will lead us to engage in what God has laid in front of us as a church. He has led us to engage in a specific region of Ethiopia called Lake Langano. He has called out Mike and Amy Rodgers to move their family there to invest their lives in the region. AND HE HAS CALLED US AS A CHURCH TO SEND THEM! That is what this Sunday is about. It is a celebration of a family and a church following God's plan even though it might not make sense to people around and even though it is different than what most people and most churches are doing. I will lead us to follow God even when it goes against the flow of our culture.

I guess the question that this bring up in my mind is this, "why don't more people who go the churches engaging in land/building programs ask their pastors why they haven't sent any missionaries out yet?" I think it is a continual preoccupation with ourselves and building our own significance. People in churches really do believe that a building gives them credibility. I listened to a fund-raising DVD put together by a church a few hours from here where this statement was expressed. The church leader actually said that a building would give them more credibility with their community and how meeting in a school made them somehow inferior as a church. It made me want to vomit! But hey whatever you have to do to raise money right! For whatever reason our culture values buildings and why not? Man has worshipped buildings since Genesis 11. But then and now it has come at the expense of following God and whole-heartedly pursuing his mission. So maybe after this Sunday we can start a revolution in churches to the point that 5 or 10 years from now people will start evaluating churches by how many missionaries they have sent out rather than the buildings they have built.

I know some of you are saying churches can do both, right? Well maybe. Every pastor in a building program will tell you they want to do both, however when given the opportunity to support a missionary it never seems to be the right time. I don't know if God will ever lead us to a building, but it has been clear since Paul wrote Romans 10:5-15 that God has called us to send. So get ready UCF... Sunday is going to be AWESOME. And it is just the beginning!

love loud... live full... laugh hard... RISK OFTEN,