Do you consider yourself a creative person? I’ve always admired creative types. Years ago, one of my friends utilized video to help capture some of the work of his father-in-law as he repurposed items in his woodworking shop. I loved watching the videos to see what Dan might come up with as people dropped off various items: a screen off a really old combine was refashioned into an attractive magnetic key and note holder or an old piano was rebuilt as a beautiful five-legged table with the foot petals and ivory prominently displayed. Dan had a knack for taking something that was broken or otherwise tossed aside and reimagining a new future for it that could be appreciated, cherished and useful. There was a redemptive quality to his work that reflected the God he loved and faithfully served.
These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to reimagine the church of Jesus Christ in a post-COVID, post-Christian, North American culture. In one sense, I’m not sure that it’s really so much a sense of reimaging as it is rediscovering what God intended for His people. In light of the mission of Jesus to seek and save the lost, and in respect to the advancement of God’s kingdom to restore all that was lost at the fall, what does the church in north America need to become to serve her mission more effectively? How do we repurpose what might be broken or cast aside in order to reimagine a new future that’s full of hope and opportunity?
This is the theme we’ll be exploring at our triennial General Conference sessions in Findlay in July. I expect that it will be a theme we’ll explore quite a bit on the blog in this coming year as well. How do we need to reimagine our congregations: what we do and how we connect with our local communities and the people who are our neighbors and fellow citizens in a way that honors God and pursues the heart of His mission in the world? How could we reimagine the use of our buildings and space? How could we reimagine how we use our time and our resources in more fruitful kingdom endeavors? How could people be developed and deployed for kingdom impact?
I’m excited about this season in front of us and believe that the Lord is preparing us for a time to reimagine how we go about our work. Here’s a place to start. I’d encourage you to go to www.cggc.org and download the e-book RETHINK: 9 Paradigm Shifts for Activating the Church by Brad Brisco. It’s free! I think you’ll find it to be a quick and accessible read that will get your creative juices flowing. Better yet, get some friends to do the same and start meeting together in order to process your learning and unlearning.
We have an incredible opportunity in front of us in the days ahead, but it will take some reimaging and rethinking about how it is we live as the church of Jesus Christ.
Christ’s Peace,
Lance
CGGC eNews—Vol. 16, No. 4
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