Stuck in a Rut
Greetings church!
A few years back I was working on a ministry event with some youth pastors that required all of us to take our trucks into the desert. (That’s part of ministry when you live in Apple Valley). My truck was last and as I was following the person in front of me, all of a sudden, it became painfully clear that my truck was no longer going to keep up with the caravan.
I got stuck… in a rut. Long story short, after about an hour of digging, I finally got free and pretended like nothing happened. This is a good reminder to all of us that there is a fine line between a groove and a rut. A groove makes things smoother, easier because you’ve been there before. A rut means you’ve traveled that road so often it is now detrimental to continue on that path.
This is true in ministry as well as life. One of the worst reasons to do something is because, “we have always done it that way,” nothing kills a brainstorm session faster than those words. So when we think about events like our Fall Carnival, VBS, or Summerfest; we want to take what is good and helpful, stay in the groove, and reinvent the things that will get us stuck in a rut.
One of the ways we can do this is consistently reminding ourselves that these large events that we put on in order to Serve the World, are not about our congregation (even though we have a ton of fun launching pumpkins). These events are for us to invite people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus to come and experience genuine community. Viewing these events from their perspective allows us to stay out of the rut.
So while we have tons of candy, free food, free pumpkins and decorating, bounce houses, photo booths, and more, remember, these events serve as an opportunity to encourage people in your world to come check out our church in a non-invasive and safe way.
So help us stay out of the rut by inviting people in your Oikos this Sunday night. 5:30-8:30 on the East lawn. It’s going to be an incredible event.
See you Sunday!
Pastor Peter