A PIONEERING SPIRIT

I love to use the word "adventurous" when applied to the Christian faith. If the journey is not an adventure, if it is not exciting and fun, if it is merely a walk through Walmart or Crate and Barrel, what is the point? If we shrink-wrap and present the gospel of Jesus as a preserved tasty morsel to be partaken of as dessert or in between meals, then we limit the power, the uncertainty, the mystery, the majesty, the danger, and the excitement.

My mom always used to remind me, and often still does... "Let go and let God..." That simple, yet profound wisdom can be applied so often not only to our faith, personally, but also to our corporate faith journey as well. If our denominational leaders would learn to simply "Let go and let God... direct local, national and international missions and ministries, determine how local congregations engage their communities, spend their monies, name their gatherings (if at all), build their buildings (if at all), contextualize the Gospel, etc... When the indigenous leaders in colonized countries in Africa and other places like China, were freed up to apply the good news (initially brought pre-packaged by well-meaning missionaries) to their context, their cultures, within their worldviews, all hell broke loose, and the Gospel truly became Gospel to those folks. To "Let go and let God..." is a frightening thing, because it involves faith - real faith, not just a controlled, religious, ritual, institutional faith. To "let go and let God..." is to be adventurous.