Our God is a consuming fire. Ultimately, he will consume everything that has not been graced by the presence, voice, and touch of Jesus Christ. This is a fearsome truth, yet one to lean into with all our hearts. And it comes in many packages. Today it came through good friends over lunch.
I’ve been working on a diagram that clearly depicts the vision of our church. I mean, day and night this thing is on my mind, being refined by God’s Spirit. Switch out a word here, add a component there. Tweak, fiddle, arrange, fix, fiddle again. But there’s only so much you can see in your own mirror. Not just because we’re so limited in our perspective, but because God limited that perspective on purpose. He wanted us to need others. To depend on them for a better vantage point.
So a week and a half ago, I was raving with my friend Kevin how I wanted this vision to be so woven into the warp and woof of our church that anyone sitting in the pew could draw it on a napkin at a moment’s notice.
“Why?” he asked, his eyes flashing.
“Well… because… its important, because…” Aw, shoot. I had to be able to explain that just as clearly as the vision.
So I worked all week for the answer, a three part beauty, and I shared it today with Kevin and another friend, Paul. They loved it. And then proceeded to pick and push back and challenge me on the diagram — things like wording and how’s and why’s and how best to present it — and in the process, helped me refine it even more.
You know what? God speaks through brothers who are willing to push back… if we’re courageous enough to take it. Some days that’s really, really hard. Today? I loved every minute of it.