"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." André Gide
For those who left the shores of traditional church many years ago, and also for those who are just now dipping their toes into the water of organic church… the message is the same: it takes time.
Mostly it takes time because we have been so trained into religious and institutional mindsets that we venture out with one foot in both paradigms -- both the old and the new. We find ourselves stuck between two worlds, sometime, for an awfully long time.
My message today is simple. If you feel adrift. If you are starting to feel like you fit in nowhere, if you wonder if you have left something behind and you just can’t figure out how to ‘ignite’ the new thing that you thought would look like this or that by now… take heart. This is common and normal. Keep on.
The journey for most of us is, actually, well… a journey. God does a work in us first as we let go of comfort zones and comfortable ways of doing life and ministry. God continues that work as he turns our heart and listening ear more and more to him and him alone. And God continues that work still further as we find there is a place for us in this world that fits us perfectly, that is not about someone else’s vision, but custom made for who we are and how we are meant to express his kingdom in the world. As all of that takes shape, we begin to discover that we are, organically, living more and more with God, expressing His Kingdom life to others, and then taking part in something that is alive and naturally reproductive. We become a natural and organic part of his process to make and reproduce love-filled, faith-filled, disciples.
It will come. It will happen. But just know that we often have to see the former shore fade away before the new thing really takes shape.
