OPPORTUNE TIMES AND FLUID PEOPLE

Possessiveness creeps in unnoticed. We need stats to measure our success and support our progress. Therefore, numbers count. Money numbers. Baptism numbers. Membership numbers. Attendance numbers.........all of 'em matter....and the more we cling to our small parcel of earth's acreage, the more we try to convince anyone looking that we are effective kingdom saints.

So I've missed one of our sweetest Memorial members lately. I called to check on her. She said she had been visiting other churches. Something surges within one's blood pressure when notified of such a development. But I know this friend. She has experienced some of the most painful days any human could ever encounter. She belongs to God; not my attendance totals.

So I let her know it was quite all right that she is looking around. She needs it. She agreed that sometimes a person needs to move on with life and see where God would lead. She has my admiration.....and my support. I could tell she needed to hear that from me.

But you must know that before Jesus gained more of my heart territory, I would have balked at her news, I feel sure, with a guilt-trip discussion. It wouldn't have been based upon her; but upon me. However, another lamb missing? Not when the kingdom of God is wider than my flow chart. Not when ministry spans time and place.

My friend? Well, I don't know where God will lead her. But I know this....we will always feel a bond of partnership as God does His work from many temples in many territories. We aren't merely working for and with the local congregation. We are serving within the vast global priesthood call the church.

Ours isn't a report of "win some" "lose some". It is a confidence we are partners in the Lord when sharing the same space and when out of sight of one another.

May God bless the fluidity of the kingdom people....John 3:8. There is enough room to give one another enough room.