Rooms

Last night I watched the medical show on Fox called "House". The main character is obnoxious, nihilistic, rude, pretentious, and a self-proclaimed grandiose philosopher (all what makes watching a show worthwhile!!). His philosophizing often displays a poor view of humanity and his actions often betray complete submission to his own ideology (again, all that makes watching a conflicted character worthwhile!!). Last night's show brought an interesting metaphor to mind.

Life is a series of moments when you find yourself in a room with someone (or more people). Who you are and your experience in life is made up of what happens in those rooms. What matters at any given moment is what is happening in that particular room.

I thought the concept was fascinating. Not where Dr. House on the show went with it, but the concept of living your life by series of rooms.

In a way, it sort of simplifies the complex for us. It makes living manageable for us. In our complicated and conflicted culture where our attention is divided and being multi-tasked, we find ourselves (our heart, our mind, our soul) often lost in a "city" of it all. We are not culturally special... we are only a consumer to the culture of the various things. This metaphor of living and experiencing things and people from room to room seems to bring some semblance of sanity to it all.

Even more direct would be what we do as spiritual directors, pastors, parents, teachers, coaches, etc. with people (children, youth, or adults) in the various rooms. We encounter people in rooms all the time. What do we do in the rooms? Do we take advantage of that moment in time in that room? Or do we sometimes waste it?

I don't know... I'm not saying that we need to live constantly maximizing every opportunity and kicking ourselves over and over again for missing or not maximizing that moment. But I am saying that maybe we need to think strategically about what we do in those various rooms in our lives (and the lives of those we minister to and with) not just let them happen naturally. Intentionality is in play here. How much do we live with intention in those rooms?

I haven't completed my thoughts on this metaphor... I only just started them. Perhaps they are really off. I don't know... the thought of life being a series of rooms where we meet people and experience things struck me as a powerful concept.

What about you?

Spiritual Formation in the Small and Local

"I think the focus of church work should be small and local; I think if you gather in a big place fine but the work of God doesn't take place simply when we are gathered but when we are reaching into the lives of others. So, I think missional is the key for the future. For me, the church is what happens during the week more than what happens on the weekend; I don't think the singular point of the church is gathering on Sunday for a sermon; I think it all fits together into a community of faith that embodies the gospel and individuals whose lives flow out of that community in whatever calling a person has."

-Scott McNight


I trust that you are taking the small and local serious. I believe that part of Satan's trap in our particular culture is that we've become so enamored with the grandiose and the global (not least from the influence of mass media) that we to quickly dismiss the small and local as unimportant or insignificant. Nothing could be further from the truth! If you look at the Scripture you'll quickly recognize that God works almost exclusively in the small and local.

The world redeemer was born in a manger and raised in Nazareth. Conceived in the small and local. A handful of men from the same local fishing village of Galilee would spear-head a movement that eventually changed the world. Conceived in the small and local. A small group of men in England meet regularly for prayer and confession (dubbed by outsiders as the Holiness Club lead by John and Charles Wesley) and through them God transforms the landscape of 18th century England and initiates a revival of global preportions. Conceived in the small and local.

Do not be deceived. The gospel of Jesus does not somehow favor best-selling Christian authors, world renown communicators or ordained pastors. The pulse of the gospel beats (I'd argue most powerfully) in the ordinary, the small and the local. In is a great injustice to minimize our role in spreading light, goodness and justice into the world by dismissing our responsibilities as unimportant. God has not called you to go to the end of the earth to accomplish this task of living the gospel. He wants you to start in your home. In your small group. With your neighbor. Everyday we have an opportunity to "embody the gospel" in small and local ways. So, just do it.

I'd like for you to read the quote above a few times. Let the words sink in and ponder them. Next, ask yourself how God is calling you and your small group to embody the gospel in small and local ways right here in Hayward, WI.

May we become convinced that what's happening in our kitchens, living rooms, over the phone and in other obscure places throughout the week is precisely the place where our God likes to move.

Take the small and local very seriously. The kingdom of God flourishes in such places.