Saturday, May 21, 2016

Rest stop or Destination

When the faithful saturate their schedules with Christian events at Christian venues with Christian people, the world has a hard time believing we hold the rest of the world in high esteem.
—Gabe Lyons


Ever stopped at a rest stop on a long trip...those are great and peaceful. There’s snacks and picnic tables. They are great, but I’d never want to live there. Why? Because it’s a rest stop, I have a destination.

Have you ever been to a church where you feel like every minute you turn around, you have another meeting to attend? Maybe you've looked at your schedule, and said "Man, I'm at church every other night this week...sometimes, back to back." I know I have.

The writer of Hebrews tells us in places that getting together as a church is important and should have priority. Whether it’s in a Worship Gathering or a Life Group or two Christians having lunch to share life and encourage each other, no doubt it's important. We encourage and are encouraged. Life's hard and God knew that having someone next to us that is going through the same thing is valuable and He created us to respond to that....but....

The church has a mission and a purpose for being here on Earth. There's a reason that we don’t just follow Jesus straight to Heaven immediately. 

We are left to help others understand who Christ is and to honor God with our lives in doing so. Most people who meet together as a church, are Christ followers, so there aren't that many people who don't know Jesus at church meetings. That creates a tension. 

Should we stay or should we go? We should do both. Families who raise their children without a good balance, don't develop a mature understanding of the mission to share Christ because it must both be done through teaching AND in practice. It’s the place we can’t wait to get back to or the place we can’t wait to leave.

Because of the tension, church gatherings must always be rest stops, never destinations. When you are a faithful Christ follower you must remember that you haven’t arrived, you just started the journey. 

Craig Groeschel, a pastor/author, says that if you want to reach the people that no one is reaching you have to go to the places that no one is going...and you can't do that, if all your free time is spent meeting at church.

Holes need to exist in our church schedules for people to be free to go, to know people who don't know Christ but there has to be a balance. You never follow Christ well without a balance of this tension, and that means that sometimes Christians need to evaluate their church schedule and drop something.



At Bay West, we tell people prioritize the worship service, meeting with a small group and then love Jesus by serving the world.  The extra events...take them on a need/can/want basis, in light of the Mission to change the world.  Does that mean that we don't take these events seriously?  Absolutely not... If we plan something, you can make sure it's not a schedule filler, but its' important enough to take time off the field.  Also, for that reason, we have HIGH expectations for the time that you aren't at church...we expect ALL of your life to be spent in line with the mission of God, changing the entire city of Palm Bay, one person, one influence, one story, one heart at a time.

Is there balance with your outside activities and your church activities? Are you approaching your outside activities in light of your mission? Are you just going into autopilot? Consider the mission your destination.

Remember...enjoy the rest stops, but live for the destination.