Usually they are frustrated with how things are going. they had different expectations of what they would be doing. they are making sacrifices but getting no rewards. the organization or whatever isn't moving in the direction they had hoped. finally they blurt out "I didn't sign up for this!"
Thankfully, i feel the opposite. i have the privilege of being a part of something i did sign up for.
A while back Ridge's pastor (Chris Brown) developed these 3 things we want Ridge Church to be about. we talked about it a lot as a staff. We backed up and said - these 3 are really what our "wins" are.
(Chris even did a talk about Ridge being all about these 3. you can check it out HERE.)
i try to sum each one up in my own 1 word description [in brackets below].
1 Create a place for people to belong before they believe.
[outsiders]
i LOVE the beautiful pictures in Scripture of God inviting His future disciples & apostles to just come walk with Him and hang out with Him before anybody even knows what they believe about Him! how awesome is that. i think God is pumped when we create churches like this. (i think we need all kinds of churches, but personally i don't really have any desire to be a part of a different kind of church than this.)
i want to be a part of the place where people have no problem belonging way before they believe. a church FULL of peeps who are walking with us, hanging out with us, before they even know what they fully think about God. that's beautiful. that's what i signed up for.
2 Undeniable presence of God.
[GOD]
don't really know how to sum this one up besides "GOD". (maybe i could even say "renown". that's the undeniable result when God is present. He is glorified & made famous.)
we just want to Invite it. Invite God's presence. create space for asking for God's presence. not just run through the motions.
we can absolutely create #1, but not #2. we can just do our best to invite and remove barriers.
like i try to say every week = if we work hard and prepare and knock it out of the park... none of it really mattes unless God does what only He can do. so, we've gotta beg for it and be totally dependent on Him.
i've been in the places and the moments where it's undeniable that God is there. i want to invite Him to do it at Ridge. we want to constantly invite Him to do His thing in crazy, undeniable ways. further the one renown and fame that matter. that's what i signed up for.
3 Radical Participation with God's Activity.
[mission]
simply - we want to be a part of what God is doing.
God's already doing His thing. we don't really have to wonder what He's up to. we don't need to come up with our own stuff.
God is on a mission and we're invited. i'm down. i'm on board. and i want to be a part of a church that is desperately hanging on for the ride.
*we want to join God in blessing our city, the world, the poor, the broken, etc...
that's what i signed up for.
