#5 – my House
I grew up attending a fairly small, traditional church. While there, I learned the basics of salvation and the importance of placing Christ at the center of my life. After David and I moved to Dallas, we searched high and low for a church that fit both our needs. Merging my perspective with his Catholic background wasn't easy, but we were determined. We visited many a church but each place had one nuance or another that just didn’t feel like “home,” so the search would continue. And continue it did until David found the church where he felt we needed to be. I, on the other hand, couldn’t have disagreed more. There were many things I didn’t like, and I wasn’t slow (or quiet) to share my opinion. The thing about my husband, though, is this: he is my perfect compliment because he knows that at times he has to just let me rant and bluster but when he is convicted by God, that trumps me without fail. David knew this was where God wanted us, so he let me pout for weeks and months, but I pouted all the way to that same building. I can remember that August day like it was yesterday. We sat in the car about to go in for service and like most weeks, David patiently waited for me to work up the fortitude to go. This day was different, though. God had been working on my heart, so I turned to David and said, “I still don’t love this church. But I know you are submitted to God, so I will submit to your decision.” We barely exited service that day before David found someone to help us place our membership at Fellowship Church.
That decision that day changed my life. For the first time, I walked into a church not because it made me feel good but because God said so. For the first time, it was not about me. And for the last 8 years, that’s the lesson God has used Fellowship Church to teach me. Church is not about the music or the message; it’s not about how hip or humble people dress. In the words of Craig Groeschel, “The Church does not exist for us. We are the church and we exist for The World.”
The lessons I learned in church growing up were important. I will always be grateful for the people who led me to know Christ personally. But I was expecting church to exist for me. I wanted a good message, a certain kind of music and surroundings that made me comfortable. There’s so much more than that! There are people all around me hurting and in need. People I know and love have a void they can’t seem to fill because they don’t know Jesus. We exist for The World means learning to think first of THEM and second of me.
Today I sat in service at Fellowship Church for the last time, and my heart ached. No church is perfect, and that includes FC. But thankfully, God uses imperfect people to do amazing things. I am not the same girl I was 8 years ago. I will never again choose a church because it feels comfortable. I will never allow Brynna to be a part of a House where there isn’t a singular focus to reach people far away from God. I will never again let it be about me and not about Him.
I have Fellowship Church to thank for that.
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