I was talking to my husband tonight about learning to disciple people in changing environments, and suddenly a light bulb went off and a comparison came to mind. I thought of a computer game my daughter played last week. It’s pretty basic. The screen is filled with different color bubbles. The goal is to click on bubbles that are surrounded with others of the same color, and when you click on groupings, they disappear. The goal is to have as few left at the end as you can. There’s something that helps though. You can click a button, and the screen shifts and turns, and then those bubbles fall down in the new rows, and you can continue playing. It is super helpful when you have hit a dead end in one setting, and you can press the button, shift your screen, and suddenly you have new opportunities for points.
Y’all. This is crisis. Or any kind of shifting that takes place.
Our focus in our life is discipleship. My husband and I want to see as many people radically loving and following Jesus as possible. We had our way of doing things. And honestly, when the pandemic happened, it forced us to ask like many others, “Ok, God. What now? How do we disciple in this?” We adjusted. We found a new normal.
And honestly, tonight, when I thought of that game, I got so excited. What if we, people who are desiring to disciple others for Jesus, thought of the shiftings as not a nuisance, but a help? What if we realize we had reached a situation as the body of Christ where we weren’t being as fruitful as we could be, and God allowed the screen to turn? Things fall a different way than they were before. The church in its desperation is forced to both seek the guidance of the Lord, and to depend on God-given creativity.
Here’s the thing, guys. It’s not going to be the last time. You see, Matthew 24 and other places in the Bible talk about crisis increasing on the earth in the time leading up to the return of Jesus. Crisis will increase on the earth. But what if the body of Christ (since we are all called to be disciple-makers) saw those crises and shake-ups as great opportunities. Opportunities to love God with everything that we are and to love others so well. What if the shake-ups were opportunities to learn to disciple in any environment? Even socially-distant one. (But it will probably look different next time.) Every time there is a shifting, there are new opportunities, new people to pour into, to love well, and to show Jesus to.
But in the midst of the shifting, choose to see a new view. Don’t just settle into the frustration that the old method was so good but now not as useful. Listen to the Spirit of God that breathes creativity and see what God is doing for THAT moment. For THIS moment.
Comments