Too Comfortable or Tied Down?

I heard someone the other day speak of a time when Americans were more mobile. In other words, they migrated to where there was opportunity. If they were unable to find work or make ends meet where they lived, the family would pack up and move toward a better life.

The question is: Are we simply too comfortable with our lifestyle now or are we tied down to our jobs, homes, etc. Why are we not able to move toward opportunity?

I probed a little deeper: Don't we see this same problem within the church today? I'm not referring to individuals and opportunity but rather to churches and opportunities within the Kingdom of God. It's my estimation that we are either too comfortable or we are tied down with our mortgages, budgets, or maybe even our by-laws. It seems as though the church has hindered herself from being able to move toward opportunity.

The Book of Acts is filled with stories of the early church and how God's people always moved toward opportunity. What was the opportunity? It was the opportunity to see churches planted, the Gospel message spread throughout the world, and people saved. It was the opportunity to see the Gentiles saved and Jesus glorified among all people. One person always stands out when I think about being able to move toward opportunity when God opens doors and his name is Philip. Philip (a part of the original 7 chosen to serve the church) had been preaching Christ to the people of Samaria. God was moving in miraculous ways. People were being saved, unclean spirits driven out, and physical healing taking place. In the midst of God's power being manifested, an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip and we can read the account in Chapter 8. "Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, 'Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' [verse 26]. What did Philip do? According to the Bible, Philip arose and went. This must have been important for God to send him out of Samaria when so much was happening. As Philip went he came across a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had come to Jerusalem to worship. He was returning home and reading Isaiah. The Spirit then told Philip to go to the chariot. When he went and asked if he needed help understanding what he was reading, God used Philip to lead this Ethiopian eunuch to Christ!

Imagine that you are Philip in today's time, with today's circumstances. God says to you: "Go!" What do you do? I can hear you singing now: "Should I stay or should I go? Should I stay or should I go now?" Fact of the matter is that MOST people in the church today will stay. We cannot leave our jobs because we cannot leave our homes. We cannot take time away from work because we can barely afford what we have already. We cannot risk losing our job since our health insurance comes from our group plan. The fact that we are so tied down to this world hinders us as individuals to fulfill the calling that God has for each of us.

Please understand that I'm not belittling you for having a mortgage. I have one myself. BUT - because of God's calling upon my life I must find a way to go when He says it's time. You may say, "But you are a preacher. God has called you to do this...it doesn't apply to me." All right, let's look at another scenario: Let's say that your Pastor or a preacher friend comes to you and says "I believe God is calling me to go to ________________ because He wants to build up a church in that area. I also sense that He wants me to ask YOU to be a part of this work. I understand the difficulty, I know the sacrifices you will have to make, but these people need Jesus. Will you at least pray and consider going with us in God's work?" What do you say now?

Now - let's take a look at the church as a whole. God's blessings are upon the church and she is growing. Believers are rising up all around the area. Your church has some options to consider. Do we...
#1 Build a bigger building?
#2 Begin having multiple services?
#3 Look at planting some satellite services within the community?
(For those of you wondering, a satellite service would be a preaching/teaching service offered within a home or separate building from your church with the goal of being planted in a certain community)

Depending on the size of your church body you may say "Let's Build!" We may have to borrow the money but God has blessed us. Some may take the alternate route (which probably should be the first one) of doing multiple services. At least that way you aren't tied down to debt or a building and are still able to accommodate the growth of the body. The third option is rarely visited. The church seems to be too careful when it comes to this approach but I challenge you to look at where the growth is coming from. Should our church offer something OUTSIDE the church walls? Would we become so vulnerable as to take a certain segment of the population on Sunday mornings and have meetings in a specific location? Even if it's only 10 minutes down the road? I would say that it is at least worth praying about.

Not only does the attitude of being too comfortable hurt the church but it hinders the expansion of the Kingdom of God. Being tied down to "things" is also a stumbling block to the body of Christ. I wonder how many churches God has called to reach a particular people group outside the U.S. but they feel as though they just "can't" do it? My only response would be, "Is God so small, so powerless, and so constrained by our finances that He wouldn't possibly ask us to do something outside our comfort zone?"

Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Although the seed is very small it produces great growth. God uses the mustard seed of a church plant to evangelize an entire community. God uses the mustard seed of our faith to move mountains that would stand in our way. The only problem would be if we are too comfortable in our situation that we aren't willing to step toward opportunity or we are so tied down that we couldn't possibly carry out God's plan.

The best way we can combat these two areas is to simply turn our lives (and our churches) over to the Lordship of Christ. Remember: His Ways are not our ways. His Thoughts are not our thoughts. When we begin to operate in His ways it will not look like anything we have ever seen before. I don't know about you, but that is exciting. That is a life filled with adventure.