Over the last 30 years, the church has been a place of worship, refugee and spiritual nourishment for me. Normally my thirst for the word is quenched inside four walls of an air conditioned building with my seat in the 3rd pew clearly marked. As of yesterday I found myself redefining what the church actually looked like to me. About 10am Sunday morning, I found myself surrounded by 12 kids all under the age of 6 filled with tons of energy and thirst for truth in this world. Kids are such pure souls who are interested in learning more about the world around them and with a childish fool-hearty attitude about life – they press in. Asking questions that we should ask, seeing the world the way we should see it, and challenging themselves to grow beyond what we consider “safe”. While I was there working with Dave and the kids ministry for the Sunday Morning service, the kids learned about Moses leading the Israelites out of bondage. It was amazing to see how quickly these kids believed in the bible story and committed the verses, story line and characters to memory. I was amazed. Not having spent extended amounts of time with kids, I wasn’t quite familiar with a child’s ability and capacity to learn first hand. But yesterday challenged me when I heard a 3 year old tell me Pharaoh was wrong for what he did and God used Moses to lead His people to safety …”let his people go”. In that moment the church was redefined for me and I saw the beauty in what God created and how it was not about the four walls or the comforts of air-conditioning (nothing wrong with those things…), but rather the church that lives inside us all that thirst for truth. The kids showed me what truth in Christ was and allowed me to attach to the freedom they had in believing in the ability to be used by God even when you feel insignificant to lead. Much like Moses, most of my life has been spent trying to live up to some false image, but always feeling unworthy for whatever the task was that was presented. Since that time I’ve grown and gained a new identity in this world that breaths for a higher understanding for what God has created in me and accepting my role in His Story as He has revealed the church within me.
