This last weekend our church hosted a conference called Impact. The focus of the conference was to help us to see how we can impact SoCal. We had speakers from our 5 sister churches get up to share about this idea.
I think the concept that really stuck with me was the idea of being a renter vs being an owner. I have lived most of my life in rental homes, and so I am very aware of what it is like to be a renter. You often are not as concerned with the condition of your home, unless it is something that inconveniences you personally. You are willing to overlook some of those cracks and dents in the walls, the slight slope on your floor, or even if an outlet is not working. As a renter you are not concerned because you know that it will be a place you will at some point leave.
Now I am not saying that if your are a renter you don't care at all, but certain things do not bother you as quickly. You do not jump to fix every tiny things in your home. You sometimes let things slide.
Because of the Lord's goodness I have also had the privilege of getting to see my family own a home. Home ownership changes the way you view things in your home. Even the smallest of problems become something you want to fix. This is due to the fact that this home is YOURS, you want the house to last since you might always live there. You see the potential of the home if you take really good care of it. That home becomes the place you make memories that will always be there, and you fill it with things that are important to you. You even take out insurance to protect your stuff when you might not have when you were renting a home.
The message that was preached off this concept was pointing us to our own lives. We often live our lives like we are renting the situation we live in. For example we go to Elementary school but are always prepping for middle school, then from middle school to high school, then from high school to college, then from college to job, while we are in that job maybe we are prepping for marriage, babies, or even a better job. We are always moving toward the next big thing in our lives.
I am not saying that we should not look forward to the next great things that God wants for us, but this lifestyle often help us have excuses on why we do not get involved in our community or our world. We give the excuse that we will do it later, or we will be able to serve better when we are more stable. We just keep putting it off.
I think that really hit me hard. I know that I have used that excuse more than once. I am often a renter of a community, and not trying to act like an owner of the community. If I was an owner I would get more excited about serving that community, and also be more passionate about getting involved in the problems of my community.
I know that right now we are in a time of humanity that there are so many causes that each of us know about to get involved with, and that can get overwhelming. However how often are we asking what is happening in my own back yard? The great thing about taking ownership of where God has you planted is that ownership will ripple out to others in the community, and then to their families then so on and so on. When we thrive where God plants us we will see change in the greater world and community.
A great example of this is a woman named Henrietta Mears. She decided to use her teaching skills to help grow her community in Hollywood. She started helping run a Sunday School program at a church and from that program she saw over 400 people join Christian Service with one of the most famous being Billy Graham. Her willingness to be an owner of her community help to raise up people who have had a much bigger impact. She did not have to have special skills, she just used what God had already gifted her with.
I do believe that on top of supporting our Home community we are also to support the Global Community. This might mean going physically and/or emotionally into some places that are not comfortable. This might mean we have to stretch ourselves to stop being worried if it is safe or not. God never promised us safety, in fact he promised us we would face hard things. He loving told us that we would never walk in it alone, and he would walk with us.
This might mean being friends with someone who we scared/unsure of, or opening up to people you don't understand. It might mean moving your family into a community that is not the best, but it is the place that God wants you. Maybe that means you have to talk to that person at work that everyone ignores or shuns.
All this to say we have to be open to be the owners of the community locally and globally. We have to open to God asking us to move or change our minds about what we hold dear. Being open to loving people unconditionally no matter what they have to offer you or what you think of them. Seeing yourself as the pastor of your community, job, and neighborhood.
I think the concept that really stuck with me was the idea of being a renter vs being an owner. I have lived most of my life in rental homes, and so I am very aware of what it is like to be a renter. You often are not as concerned with the condition of your home, unless it is something that inconveniences you personally. You are willing to overlook some of those cracks and dents in the walls, the slight slope on your floor, or even if an outlet is not working. As a renter you are not concerned because you know that it will be a place you will at some point leave.
Now I am not saying that if your are a renter you don't care at all, but certain things do not bother you as quickly. You do not jump to fix every tiny things in your home. You sometimes let things slide.
Because of the Lord's goodness I have also had the privilege of getting to see my family own a home. Home ownership changes the way you view things in your home. Even the smallest of problems become something you want to fix. This is due to the fact that this home is YOURS, you want the house to last since you might always live there. You see the potential of the home if you take really good care of it. That home becomes the place you make memories that will always be there, and you fill it with things that are important to you. You even take out insurance to protect your stuff when you might not have when you were renting a home.
The message that was preached off this concept was pointing us to our own lives. We often live our lives like we are renting the situation we live in. For example we go to Elementary school but are always prepping for middle school, then from middle school to high school, then from high school to college, then from college to job, while we are in that job maybe we are prepping for marriage, babies, or even a better job. We are always moving toward the next big thing in our lives.
I am not saying that we should not look forward to the next great things that God wants for us, but this lifestyle often help us have excuses on why we do not get involved in our community or our world. We give the excuse that we will do it later, or we will be able to serve better when we are more stable. We just keep putting it off.
I think that really hit me hard. I know that I have used that excuse more than once. I am often a renter of a community, and not trying to act like an owner of the community. If I was an owner I would get more excited about serving that community, and also be more passionate about getting involved in the problems of my community.
I know that right now we are in a time of humanity that there are so many causes that each of us know about to get involved with, and that can get overwhelming. However how often are we asking what is happening in my own back yard? The great thing about taking ownership of where God has you planted is that ownership will ripple out to others in the community, and then to their families then so on and so on. When we thrive where God plants us we will see change in the greater world and community.
A great example of this is a woman named Henrietta Mears. She decided to use her teaching skills to help grow her community in Hollywood. She started helping run a Sunday School program at a church and from that program she saw over 400 people join Christian Service with one of the most famous being Billy Graham. Her willingness to be an owner of her community help to raise up people who have had a much bigger impact. She did not have to have special skills, she just used what God had already gifted her with.
I do believe that on top of supporting our Home community we are also to support the Global Community. This might mean going physically and/or emotionally into some places that are not comfortable. This might mean we have to stretch ourselves to stop being worried if it is safe or not. God never promised us safety, in fact he promised us we would face hard things. He loving told us that we would never walk in it alone, and he would walk with us.
This might mean being friends with someone who we scared/unsure of, or opening up to people you don't understand. It might mean moving your family into a community that is not the best, but it is the place that God wants you. Maybe that means you have to talk to that person at work that everyone ignores or shuns.
All this to say we have to be open to be the owners of the community locally and globally. We have to open to God asking us to move or change our minds about what we hold dear. Being open to loving people unconditionally no matter what they have to offer you or what you think of them. Seeing yourself as the pastor of your community, job, and neighborhood.
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