Peter's transformation was amazing - almost unbelievable. I imagine that some who knew Peter had a hard time believing this was genuine, but it clearly was. It was supernatural. As I reflected upon and studied Peter's transformation and the beginning and early phases of the church, I became convinced that God's Holy Spirit could do the same kind of miracle in me that He did in Peter. I knew that supernatural transformation was possible if the purpose was to advance the Kingdom of God against the gates of Hell. This type of transformation became my passionate prayer as I walked the neighborhood each night.
One day, a month or so later, I was working on some things in our youth room at the church when my Sr. Minister, Curt, walked in to talk with me. Really, the "talk" was just a simple question. Curt asked me if I would ever consider leading a church plant if our church ever decided to go that route in the future. The question was not an "offer", just simply a hypothetical question to gage my reaction. I stuttered around for a minute, not really sure what to say. The truth was that I had never even considered planting a church. Even though I was connected to God in Bible study and prayer in a very new and passionate way, I still was not to a point where I was thinking about leading a church or anything. At first, planting a church sounded like a HORRIBLE idea! My answer to Curt came out something like, "Um...I don't really know...uh...I've never thought about it before...I'm not sure if leading a church is in my future." What Curt heard in that moment from my reaction was, "NO! Leave me alone! I have my own plans and my own future." Curt would have been right in thinking that except he had no way of knowing how God was going to begin speaking to my heart from that moment on. The "Peter"-like transformation I had been praying for was beginning and I had no clue!!!
You see, at the same time Curt asked me about church planting I had a youth ministry friend at a church near mine announce that he was planting a church in Chattanooga, TN. I also heard about another friend of mine who was planting a church in Chapel Hill, NC. Then I heard about my wife's cousin who was joining a church plant in Charleston, SC. I heard about all three of these church plants within a week. It stirred something in my heart to hear about these guys and I decided that I needed to check it out. I had NO IDEA what was involved in church planting. I didn't know where to start. I didn't know how it happened. I didn't even know why it was even needed. My first thought was that we have a church on every corner here in the south, why do we need more?!!!
A few months passed with my questions about church planting dancing around in my head before I was finally moved to start seeking out real information. My first stop was to do some web searches about church planting. One site I came across was a church planting organization I had heard of but knew nothing about. Stadia is an organization that partners with church planters and church planting networks to plant local churches. On their site they explain what they do and why. I was intrigued. They also listed some church planting books as suggested reading so I decided to read a couple of church planting books to learn more about the church planting methodology and culture. In the midst of my study and research, I gave my friend who was planting in Chattanooga a call. By this time he was only about a month away from the launch of his church. I knew he would be able to explain what was going on and describe the experience in practical terms. Our conversation lasted over an hour and I hung up thinking, "this is something I could get excited about"!
Now, gathering information and being inspired is important, but it certainly is not the same thing as a "calling" from God. I continued growing deeper in the intensity of my personal Bible study and prayer life. Not coincidentally, people started noticing a change in my teaching and leadership with my youth group. My teaching and leading with my youth group underwent a significant shift and started reflecting what God was doing in my own heart. Without going into much detail, it became clear that my priorities and the depth of my teaching were dramatically changing. I found myself really starting to care. I found myself relating to Matthew 9 where Jesus looked on the crowds and saw they were harassed and helpless and he had compassion on them. I found myself really desiring to develop deeper relationships with my students. I began to see that God had me in youth ministry for a reason. It was not just a job and it was not just "doing" church. I had lots of kids in my group who were hurting and lost. God was opening my eyes and it was painful to see how much I had been missing.
Beyond the youth ministry, God began to open my eyes to the needs of my wife and kids. Without telling her story (that is for her to share), as I was going through this spiritual renaissance, God was showing me that my wife was really hurting. She was hurting, in part, because I had spent so many years focusing on myself and being blind to her needs. It was time for me to open my eyes and really love my wife and kids. As this began to happen, I finally made the connection. I, for the first time ever, realized that the Church is the Bride of Christ. I began to examine Jesus' love for His church and compare that with how I loved my wife. The comparisons and contrasts were stark and startling. This began a true renewal in my relationship with my wife and in my understanding of how Jesus views the Church.
Because of this new understanding, a truth came into focus for me. If Christ loves His church and this is the way that Christ chose to share His love with the world....AND if I was really learning to care about people and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, it was becoming clear what God wanted me to do with my life. For the first time I began to not only accept, but embrace the idea that I would spend the rest of my life serving in the local church as a full-time minister. If the church was God's plan and where He was going to advance His Kingdom, then I need to be right in the center. To do anything else would serve no purpose and bring no fulfillment. I was now able to envision myself leading a church and this flung the doors wide open. God's calling in my life was starting to get very loud and I was finally listening!!!
Now that I was becoming convinced that leading a church was something that God was preparing me for, I needed to find out more about this church planting stuff. It was starting to look like a very scary and exciting path, but I still knew almost nothing about it. I knew that it was time for me to start having some serious conversations with people who were already somewhere down the road I was considering taking.
Part 4 (the final part, I think) of this testimony will cover the past few months of my life as I have explored church planting in depth and have sought God's leadership and direction for the next stage in my life that will be marked by the things that happen in 2011. Thanks for reading and I hope my writing serves some sort of purpose in your life as it does in mine.
(to be continued)
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