The Christmas before Alexis and I got married she gave me a bike. It was a very thoughtful and expensive gift. If I'm honest it hasn't been used much. With great passion and resolve I decided to take it into the shop to get it tuned up and ready for use. The irony is that when I took it to the shop they told me it would take two weeks for them to get to it. Kind of killed my spark. Nonetheless I picked it up the other day and road it this morning to meet Waymond and another friend for coffee. The bike held up great.... I, on the other hand, suffered.
Not only did I arrive 10 minutes late, I felt drained. I saw Tacoma roads through different lenses! Where did all those hills come from?
Oh yeah, had to ride home too! The hills seemed to be against me going home too. On the way home (which turned into a ride/walk) I started thinking about the fact that we've lived in Tacoma for 1 year. The year was kind of like my bike ride, some of it was riding down hill and some of it was walking up hill with my bike and backpack.
I've been reading
In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson (if you'd like a copy of the book let me know, we have extras) and he writes that 50% of church plants fail in the first year! Not gonna lie... shocking. But he went on to write that we need to
'reframe our problems'. Most of our battles, struggles, uphill walks with bike and backpack are not to be despised, rather
'adversity is often the seedbed of opportunity'. Basically, the more problems we face the more equipped we'll be to help others.
In life we can fear risk because it might result in difficulties or problems, but when we take risks knowing our Father who
'is the same yesterday, today and forever' we can press into the purposes of God with confidence. This is why it's important that we are first and foremost worshipers of God. Worship is the process of forgetting how inadequate we are and how adequate Jesus is.
My bike ride, which I cringe to think how short it actually was, required endurance, endurance I didn't have. In the same way this church plant will require endurance. The way we get in shape and stay in shape is to go to our Father and get. God doesn't get tired and spiritual endurance comes from leaning on the Everlasting. Jesus modeled this for us, he engaged people and then withdrew to be with his Father... repeat process as needed. We need to engage people, our city, our culture, but we also need to know how to withdraw. Jesus never backed down from a challenge, but he also wasn't afraid to withdraw.
I have no doubt that church planting is risky and takes endurance. I also have no doubt that it's a worthy cause to give ourselves to.
In the end, a life lived for God is never a life wasted. It's these words we long to hear, "
Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.
Enter into the joy of your master." (Matthew 25:21 ESV) This entails not only hearing the Fathers pleasure, but experiencing the ultimate joy. I look forward to that.
It's a joy and a privilege to serve with all of you!
With many thanks and much joy,
Bo Noonan
