Wellspring for KC

A few years after joining the baptist church, I felt God’s calling into ministry. At the time the only thing I knew about was the pastoral calling and missionary calling. I didn’t feel God specifically leading me to Africa, so I assumed a calling into vocational pastoral work. After learning more about church and one’s personal walk with Christ I became very disturbed with what I saw on a weekly basis. I awoke one day after thinking about church and Christianity saying to myself, “Is this it? Is this what Christianity is about?” I’d been active in the church for about 2 years teaching Sunday School, leading a discipleship training class with my wife, working in Vacation Bible School, and trying to be a sponge about all things church and Christianity. Bible college was teaching me tons and I was able to experience many different church bodies by being a pulpit supply preacher, but somehow I knew Christianity was not what I was seeing.

I didn’t realize it at the time, I just thought I was seeing things as a pastoral student that others don’t get to see. (There was some truth to this though.) What God was revealing to me was the preparation for something different than I’d experienced before.

At the time, my only thought was, “Is this it?”. My journey to today began with this very question. I saw that if Christianity was what I was seeing as an associate pastor of a medium sized church (200) than it was no wonder people weren’t flocking to the building. He began to place in me a desire to do something different. To ask questions that were unpopular in SBC circles. To question every facet of denominational life that I’d learned over the past several years.

The thought of “Is this it?” began my thoughts toward the definition of a church, worship, personal spiritual disciples, and attractional vs. missional church.

For me and my wife “it” was different from what our friends, family, and neighbors liked and didn’t question. I didn’t know what “it” was but I knew it was not deacons refusing to vote for the giving of coats to migrant workers in a public business meeting. “It” was not the stand up sit down stand up sit down stand up sit down that went on for 25 minutes before the 15 minutes of preaching. “It” was not allowing a flower fund for dead people to be greater than an evangelism budget line item and refusing to change it. “It” was not expecting people to come to the church building to hear the pastor talk about Jesus rather do so themselves.

My question of “Is this it?” began me on the roller coaster of fun and adventure we’re now well into discovering answers to.