This past Saturday, Berry, Mark, and I were at a work day at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (the church who rents us space on Sunday nights). We were asked to dig a hole for a tree that was going to be replanted. As we were digging, God began to give me a picture. It was as if He was using this experience to teach me something. So, I want to take a few minutes just to share with you some things that God taught me and is teaching me from that experience.
1. Digging is before planting.
When I came out to North Dallas, I thought I was coming to plant Resonance. However, Saturday I realized that I was a step ahead of God. It was like I was trying to plant a tree in a hole that did not exist yet. I have at times felt very frustrated because either this hasn't progressed as quickly as I would have liked, or I have been frustrated as a result of so much change in such a short time period. Saturday, God showed me that this is a slow, dirty, painstaking process. Digging is the initial step. We must break new ground. Penetrate areas with the Gospel that haven't been penetrated before. Also, we must be willing to dig deeper in our relationship with God. This process is not only about me reaching out to others. It is about God shaping me into what He wants.
2. Digging is Dirty Work
After I got home from the work day, my hands and clothes were filthy. Also, I had just as much dirt in my mouth as I did on my hands. Any work that involves close contact is dirty work. That is what is going on here. We are small, but we are close. As a result of that there will be dirty times. Times of frustration, disappointment, depression. That's not what you read in "Church Growth" or Church Planting books. I remember reading those books and walking away from them thinking, "Well, we'll do some advertising and canvassing, and then people will show up." That is not the case, nor (in my opinion) should it be. We must walk into the dirt in people's lives and get in the hole with them. We must be intimately involved in each other's lives. I'm sure if I had stood ten yards away from the hole and told Berry and Mark what to do while I drank lemonade, they would have started chunking clods at me. We can't just sit aside and tell each other what to do or stand outside people's lives and tell them what they need. We must be willing to get dirty.
3. Dig and Dig Again
After about an hour, we thought that we were done digging our hole. However, we were wrong. One of the elders from the church informed us that we probably should double the diameter of our hole. It was as if he had picked up the shovel and smacked me right in the mouth with it. How would you feel? You have spent almost an hour digging a hole that you were proud of and then you find out it's not right. Now, I wasn't angry at him...just disappointed...I was tired. At times during this journey we have realized that we need to adjust. It isn't easy to adjust. I mean, we've already all been working so hard, but we must be flexible and remember that we are digging for God. This isn't about us. We are working for Him. So, when He says go deeper or wider or slower or faster or longer or shorter, we must do it, remembering always that He has the finished product in mind.
4. Be a Shovel
We were equipped with two different types of shovels while digging...a spade and a sharp shooter. The spade is used for scooping dirt, and the sharp shooter is used for penetrating the ground. Imagine what the work would have been like if we had a plastic beach shovel or a spoon or worse yet our hands. We were equipped with the right instrument. While we are on this journey as "diggers for the King" we must realize that we aren't the ones holding the shovel. We are the shovel. We must allow God to use us to dig. Furthermore, we must be the kind of shovel that He has called us to be. Some of us are sharp shooters and some of us are spades. If I am expecting Berry or Mark or Mike or anyone else to do things the way I do them, then I am wrong. I must consistently be sensitive to be the type of shovel that God has called me to be. Lord, here am I dig with me. May I be the proper instrument in His hands!
I hope that all of you regardless of where you are and what you are doing for our master recognize the value of what you are doing for the Kingdom. He wants to use you. We must all continue to remember Romans 6:13 "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness."
We are instruments, but are we instruments of wickedness or righteousness.
Wednesday, April 07, 2004