When I was in my early teens, one of our youth volunteers took me aside and told me he thought it was time I professed my faith in public. He was the father of a good friend and one of my spiritual mentors so his talk really gave me something to think about. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about my faith as being mine. It just WAS… always had been there in my life, a solid foundation and anchorage. My friend, never one to be covert, thought I should follow God’s direction and, with the Spirit’s help, publicly acknowledge and personally claim God’s work in my life. Within a year, I had stood up and through Public Profession of Faith, affirmed what God already knew. I was HIS; He had paid the price and made me His adopted son.
It is obvious we’ve never lived in times such as these. But God still puts people in our lives to give us these nudges. It is usually the people we’re around every day: family and coworkers. Often, very often, they are members of our church family. Small talk after church, opinions in meetings and especially the Word from the pulpit are all ways to listen to our God working in small ways.
The Council has been trying to think of ways to nudge our congregational life. Renewal Lab and the Pastoral Search Committee are urging us to build on our foundations. As a body of believers we are being called to grow and mature. James 1:4 says “ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” We are all moving towards spiritual maturity, being strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, often through the words of fellow Christians. And a lot of us are used to those words being spoken in person, in the context of regular time together, with a head pastor to lead us. Yet in this time, we have none of this available to us. But we are still the church! We have to learn to be the church even when we can’t be physically together.
So, just as it took someone pulling me aside as a teen, maybe I need to do this for others. Making the step of faith to stand up and publicly profess your faith is important for the individual, but it is equally important for the rest of the church body. Being without a pastor has meant that some people have been waiting to become full members of the Prairie Edge Church family. Perhaps some of our youth have been waiting for a pastor in order to make profession of faith. Maybe they don’t really need to wait.
Here is your nudge from me. I see God at work in your life and it is now time to formalize that reality. Join a committee, pray deeply for others, call someone, let’s all live out the calling God has given us- together, even in this time.
Scott VanDyke