Good Ingredients, Good Flavor

There must be someone out there that actually eats Fruit Cake. The Claxton family is banking on it. I do not eat fruit cake. Never did, never will. (Why do those colorful little morsels embedded in the batter taste so skanky? Really, is that fruit? Was it grown near a nuclear test site?) But I digress.

The recipes I most appreciate are those which combine the foods and flavors I enjoy. Therefore, it stands to reason that the most important element of the process for creating dishes that tantalize the taste buds is selecting the proper ingredients. Fresh, ripe, natural and organic are modifiers which I like to see on my produce, grains, meats and such. Although the procedures for combining the various ingredients for each recipe will vary, there tend to be tried-and-true methods for assuring a satisfying outcome for both the palate and the ego, and the special touch which often makes or breaks the final product is the experience of the baker, chef or cook.

Church planting -- or "church" in general, for that matter -- seems to require that a diverse list of ingredients to be brought into proximity under just the right conditions, for the proper amount of time, and with exactly the correct amount of light and heat -- let simmer.

Wrong.

Church planting is entirely the responsibility and exercise of the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ. Despite the common tendency to suspect that human beings are tasked with the job of gathering the right people with the right gifts and blending them all together in just the right place often enough, it is foolishness to imagine that the outcome could ever be a pleasing aroma in the nostrils of our Lord. He builds His Church. He selects the ingredients. He places them together under all the right circumstances. He, alone, is Creator of the outcome.

Our Part.

We are some of the ingredients our Lord selects and employs to create the special flavor and after-taste He desires to be introduced into and linger in the community around us. How "tasty" are we as a congregation? What flavor do we put on the crowded faith-plate of Salisbury and its environs? What is the after-taste which most commonly remains following our interaction with our neighbors?

Is our presence in the community around us characterized by:

Freshness? Do we speak, act, and invest ourselves in ways that are understood by the culture around us today? Are we observed to involve ourselves in activities which do not require the Cleaver family's approval? (have we moved beyond 1950s American Christianity?)

Ripeness? Do we appear to be knowledgeable and also mature in our understanding of the truth which we profess? Are we perceived as folks who have a message worth considering? Do others sense that we are at a place in our own personal and corporate growth that is enviable?

Organics? Do we rely for impact upon our relationships with people we already know and are situated near, or do we only seem to be interested in people "out there?" Is our approach to multiplying the Gospel's reach reliant upon a seminar, or common ground?

Naturalness? Do we make impressions on our neighbors as folks who have integrated Truth from God into our daily lives (including conflict resolution, forgiveness, confession, rejoicing, dealing with adversity, celebrating, and etc), or does our message about spiritual things seem detached from the rest of our "real" lives?

You tell me.
How am I doing in your estimation... how an I as a leader among the folks at StillWaters living my life in your eyes? How are you doing in your own eyes? Let's talk. I mean it, let's get together and talk about our influence and how we might improve the ways in which we project our beliefs to the community at large. We can do it in a group setting, we can do it one-on-one, we can do it soon or later. But, let's do it. Talk to me.

And, if it were up to me and my grocery choices, future generations of the Claxton family will be on welfare. "Ain't buyin' it!" (However, I HAVE heard of some novel applications for uneaten fruitcake . . . the mind boggles!)

Give thanks even when you are truly unhappy and the world will wonder how and why you can.

Tell the same message to everyone and the world will believe that you sincerely mean what you say.

Help those who cannot help you in return and the world will think that you are generous and kind.

Do all the above and God will smile for His own reasons. So will you as you lay your head on your pillow daily.

Shalom,
Cameron
Unashamed