Monday, June 7, 2010

The Four Walls

I have been living in His house, in His four walls, but have I been building His kingdom? I have been taking care of His sheep that are in the fold, but have I gone out to find the lost one?

My move down to Austin has started me thinking about some things I should have been thinking about a long time ago. Actually, they had crossed my mind but they’re not too comfortable so I have never let them stay long. Until now. Now, I have nowhere to hide. I don’t have four walls.

See, I’ve grown up in church and my whole life has been defined by what I have done in those four walls. I’ve gone to church every Sunday morning. I made my best friends in churches growing up. I took co-op classes in churches. My dance studio held classes in several churches across town. I became an intern and spent the majority of 3 years in the church. I learned behind the scenes how to run a church. Even being an intern didn’t break me of wanting to hang out there in my free time.

Then I moved to a church plant less than a week ago. I don’t have four walls. I’m faced with a blunt question: What is my life defined by now?

I don’t want to answer that because the answer…well, I don’t even know if I can answer it.

Here’s the deal; I should have never gotten to that point in the first place. Where in the Gospels does Jesus ever say anything about being in the four walls? (In fact, He had some pretty choice words for those that did stay there.) At what point did I get comfortable there and start calling it ministry? I’ve said I want to work with the local church but is that an excuse to just stay around Christians all the time? How long am I going to make the excuse that I don’t have the gift of evangelism?

I’m still in the middle of figuring this out so I have no answers but I think I’ve run across some scriptures that give a hint of where I need to be heading. One thing is obvious, it is outside of the four walls.

Mathew 11:4-5 -
Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 -
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

1 Thessalonians 1:4-5-
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.