Is The Church Maxing The Speedometer?

Have you seen the new Ford Mustangs? My wife does not really like them…I am sort of indifferent. In fact, I haven’t really gotten a good look at one…until today.

I am cruising down the road and I roll up on this Mustang. Now I have to admit that I am an extremely impatient driver. I have one mission when I get in the car—get to my destination. I do not enjoy just “going for a ride.”

Anyway—I get behind this Mustang and I figure, “No problem—it’s a Mustang—it will hit the gas and be gone any second now…any second now…uh, any second now.”

We totally cruised down the road at 30 miles per hour…I wanted to scream. I was literally saying, “Hey buddy, it’s the oblong pedal on the right—use it, step on it—it’s a MUSTANG—it was built for speed…that car is capable of so much more!!!”

But I guess the dude didn’t hear me—we kept on cruising down the road—I literally felt that one of those dudes on a moped was going to pass us at any second. He finally turned and went another direction and I was left thinking, “What a waste of a good car.”

Please do not misunderstand me…I am not advocating speeding by any means—but if you have a car that will move—then don’t do 10 miles under the speed limit—let the car live up to its potential.

I am almost sure that is the way that God feels about the church. I do not feel when He designed the church that it was for the purpose of us to look good while cruising through the culture. I do not believe He designed us to be just another car on the road—we are the Lexus, we are the Porsche, we are the…well, whatever the fastest car is on the road…that is what we were designed to be.

That is why it bothers me when churches seem to merely be cruising through the year. “No one in the community is being reached—but our Sunday school class picked some wonderful apples. No one has joined our church this year—but we are a close family and we love one another. We have had more burials than baptisms—but hey, at least our building is paid for.” It seems the church has done a marvelous job at excusing our cruising…while all the while the communities in which we are planted go unchurched and unreached.

I do not believe God has called us to be comfortable. I do not think God has called us to cruise. When we cruise (go slower than we are designed to go) then I feel we can get caught up in listening to backseat drivers (power hungry people in the church) and also begin to get caught up in meaningless activities (boycotting Disney and getting involved with video poker policing!)

I know that as a leader one of the biggest temptations that we can face is setting the cruise on a safe speed and just enjoying the scenery. Some have asked me, “Hey Perry, when we get into the new building I will bet things will slow down and get a little easier.” My response always shocks them, “Nope—that is when things will just be getting started!”

Why is cruising such a temptation? Answer—because it is easy!!! When you “cruise” and do not do what God intended you to do—you have time for all kinds of things that are meaningless. However, when the church begin to reach people who do not know Christ, well…it’s a little messy. They have questions—hard ones…ones that even cause us to think. They have problems, real ones—ones that you can’t simply say, “Well—let’s pray about that,” and then dismiss them as “just needing more Jesus.” They don’t know the Bible—so you can’t preach on Sunday’s and say, “You know the story of Johan and the fish…”—if you do they will give you this blank look. (PASTORS—you can’t expect them to KNOW things—take 15 seconds and explain what in the world you are talking about!)

As the pastor of New Spring I cannot let us merely cruise down the road and pretend that everything is ok—there are people to reach in this community—there are marriages falling apart—there are teens having sex—there are people in a heap of financial trouble—and our church will not turn our backs on these things and pretend that everything is OK just because we have built a building and have a place to call our own.

God has filled us up with high octane gas—His Spirit. He has given us an incredibly powerful engine—His Word. As a pastor, I refuse to be a part of a church whose biggest wish for the upcoming year it to repaint the restrooms! God has called us to maximize the RPM’s and go as fast as we can.

I am so thankful that our church both believes in a HUGE God and has grasped the vision of us being a change agent in this community. It is an honor and a privilege to pastor here. I sincerely believe we have the best people in the world coming to New Spring. (If you are a pastor and you do not believe your people are the best—then leave!!!) There are so many people who have committed to going fast in our church, to making a difference…and they eagerly support the vision with their time and money. To those of you who read this BLOG, thank you—and as I always say—THIS is just the beginning—let’s continue to put our foot on the gas pedal—God designed the church—let’s maximize the potential that we have been given.