For the better part of the last two months, I’ve been investing much of my time and energy with other leaders in my local church working through some messy emotions, longstanding hurts and broken relationships that have been impediments to our church in ministering as effectively as we could to our friends and neighbors. As I write this post, I’m about to leave for yet another early morning breakfast with another church leader as we seek to discern what God wants us to do next. Working through this stuff is almost (but not quite) as frustrating as being a Cleveland sports fan…unlike Cleveland sports fans, final victory is certain for followers of Christ. Nevertheless, it seems as if I ask  why I’m putting myself through this on a daily basis.

This just popped into my head…For those of us who are parents, we all have times when our kids are melting down, when they do things that make zero sense, when they make decisions or go through struggles that we lose sleep over. Yet, when we step back and think about the good times, the experiences of pure love or joy we’ve shared with them and the opportunities to see something of God through them, the bad times are certainly worth it. We’re all broken, all imperfect, all self-centered and all of us sometimes harbor the wrong motives. But through the church, God takes a bunch of messy, self-centered, broken people and with a lot of grace, He mixes it all up and often creates something wonderful that reflects upon His glory and provides a blessing to His creation.

I put up with all the messy stuff because there’s stuff the church can do together that I could never do on my own. The church provides an opportunity to merge my gifts and talents with those of others to accomplish work of lasting significance. It offers a place where my kids can have an opportunity to learn about God while serving others, while connecting with adults they can turn to for wisdom and influence at those times when they may not feel comfortable approaching my wife or myself. The church has provided a place where I’ve met people who’ve greatly enriched my wife and myself, including the majority of folks who are part of our Key Ministry team.

That’s why I’m getting up too early tomorrow morning for yet another meeting. That’s why we do what we do with churches through Key Ministry. I want my friends and neighbors and their kids to learn about Jesus and grow in faith in Him and have the opportunity to use their unique gifts and talents to do stuff of lasting significance to honor God. That’s also why you haven’t seen as much of the blog as I would’ve liked to offer lately.