Living in the Wild

I love Vacation Bible School! There’s an excitement and an energy around the church that simply cannot be duplicated any other time of the year. And I am so thankful for the countless hours of preparation that go into every facet of it. Leslie Whaley, you are a rock star leading rock stars, and I appreciate you and your team so much.

I’m loving this years VBS theme, In the Wild. That’s pretty descriptive of a typical VBS classroom, right?! But in his recent book Letters to the Church, Francis Chan talks about how it ought to be descriptive of the church as well. He talks about the animated movie Madagascar that came out a few years ago, about a group of animals at the Central Park Zoo. The animals have a cushy life, and most of the animals love it. As Francis describes it,

They’re extremely well cared for. Trainers wait on them hand and foot, bringing them everything they need and ensuring that their habitats, which are carefully designed to look like “the wild” are safe and comfortable for the animals.

But the zebra finds himself dreaming about the wild. He can’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t made to live in a zoo. He was made to roam free…

Francis Chan wonders if that can describe people in the church as well. We can get very comfortable in our church habitat, especially when there are so many hardworking staff and volunteers who work to make sure our needs are met. But were we made for something more? Every once in a while we get a taste of it. Maybe on a mission trip, or when we reach out to a neighbor or coworker and share the gospel with them. There’s risk, unpredictability, danger, the thrill of the hunt—in short, everything we don’t get when we are safely behind the walls of your habitat.

Glynwood, let’s get back in the wild! Jesus envisioned a church that would not be held back by any cages, walls, or fences. Not even the gates of hell could prevail against the church Jesus envisioned (Matthew 16:18)! I challenge you to take a step toward what we were created for. Step out of your comfort zone, and begin a conversation with a lost friend. Volunteer in our Matthew 25 ministry. Get trained as a Disaster Relief Worker. Go on a mission trip. Walk across the street and welcome someone to the neighborhood.

It’ll be wild!

Joy in the Journey!

James