Hey folks,
I'm still swimming a bit in all of the content and thoughts that came my way at Mosaix' Multiethnic Retreat in Chicago last weekend, as well as from our class on Church Diversity that has been meeting for 3 weeks now.
One common thought that has emerged is this idea of a "change in direction" - from one that tries to suck people into the church, to one that compels the church to go to the people.
Don't get me wrong: the church shouldn't just be one or the other. You can't be all about going without gathering, and you can't be all about gathering without going. Lean one of those ways only, and you've missed the picture of the church that Jesus and Scripture have given us.
However, I am convicted that we have a church that, at times, leans and relies too heavily on the gathering instead of the going. And I think we live lives before God that involve a lot of gathering, and not a lot of going.
To use language that we are familiar with: we need to expand our understanding of being invitational - from simply inviting people to a church gathering, to being the sent church in the community.
Which leads us to the obvious, menacing, and even overwhleming question of: How do we do that?
One great way to start is by building a greater awareness of your community. And there's actually a pretty cool opportunity coming up to do just that tomorrow.
Tour de 'Loo is an event coming up this Thursday evening put on by Main Street Waterloo. It showcases eleven different spaces in Waterloo that have each been a part of a city renovation or new business start up. The tour ends at the new Public Market, a co-op grocery store that our very own Dan Ankrum will be staffing and helping to run.
Hope you're able to take advantage of that, and do so with your spiritual eyes on. Time to start seeing our community the way God does. And you can't start unless you're in it.
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