Update on change

A couple of weeks ago I announced that I was going to start praying for change.

What I didn't say was that I invited the rest of our staff team to join with me. And since my invitation, we've met three times. We spend 1/2 hour talking openly about the transition and 1/2 hour praying for God to bring change during this time of flux.

Some have been too busy to set that time aside, others have forgotten about the opportunity, and a few of us have made it a regular part of our week.

I can't speak for the regulars but for me our times of praying have only fueled my desire for change.

I think my longing for something different, something fresh, is emerging from my study of the Scriptures. The more I teach and preach, the more I'm driven to study and reflect on the way of the early church. It leads me to questions like why the Jesus followers of the first century were so gospel crazy? How could the New Testament disciples lead a movement of nobodies that has now become a collection of organizations that pride themselves on having a solid leadership hierarchy?

And then there are deeper questions, ones that haunt me, like what am I becoming? How far am I willing to go as I walk with God? Am I willing to follow Jesus in the way of downward mobility that, for Him, ended on a cross? Or am I more interested in jockeying for positional authority?

I'm praying that the change starts in me.