Yesterdays snow was not great snow man snow. It didn’t pack as easy as the previous snow. It wasn’t as sticky. However, the “snow ball effect” still applies. You can start a giant snow ball for a snowman with just a handful of snow. Pack the snow. Roll it around. Gather more snow. It’s never as easy as it appears in cartoons (where tossing a ball of snow down a hill immediately results in a giant snowball with the legs and arms of passers-by sticking out of it as it rolls along picking up everything and everyone in it’s path.) It takes effort…lots of effort…and the right conditions…but snow men in yards everywhere testify to the fact that “the snowball effect” is actually possible.
Sunday we talked about the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) and the two principles that guide actionchurch taken from that parable.
Christians- (Older brother) : Everything God has is for you. Reward is waiting for you in heaven….but the PARTY is not for you. As in the story, the music is not necessarily for you. Our job is to “work in the field” for the father…but instead of being angry when our “younger brothers/sisters” return home and are celebrated…we are to join in. actionchurch is all about finding that wandering brother and celebrating their return.
Wanderers– (Younger Brother) God loves you just the way you are…but he loves you too much to allow you to stay that way. The Father’s plan for the younger brother is to welcome them home…to celebrate their return with great joy. Notice though that in the story the father never rejects the sons offer to become his servant. The father never says “hey don’t worry about it, I’m so glad you are home you never have to work again”. The whole point of the story is that the son who had wasted what he was given returned to work for his Father…to be his servant. After the party ended, the younger brother went back to work in the fields with his older brother.
It’s the “snow ball effect”. People who have wandered far from the Father return home. They are celebrated. They join the workers who welcome even more people have wandered… Rescued people rescue others. The momentum builds. The “snow ball” gets larger and stickier.
It takes effort to get started. God has to provide the correct conditions. It’s never as easy as it appears in the cartoonish church planting books. But…the “snow ball effect” is real. It’s the way the Church was designed to work.
I can’t wait to see what actionchurch can become as we continue to “roll”…