If only we had…then we could…
If only our church had a youth director. Then we could attract families with kids.
If only we had a bigger building. Then we could expand our ministry.
If only we had more young families. Then we could have an exciting congregation.
If only we had a better location for our
congregation. Then our congregation
would grow.
If only we had committed Sunday School teachers. Then kids would start coming again.
It’s an easy game to play. Here are the rules:
·
Look at other ‘successful’ congregations
·
See what they have that your congregation does
not
·
Assume that if you had that ‘one thing’ then
your congregation would also be ‘successful’
·
Grumble when you can’t find that ‘one thing’
·
Fall into despair
At the heart of this game is a very disturbing assumption:
God has not given us enough. Really? Do we truly want to believe that the God of
the heavens and the earth willingly withholds the ‘one thing’ that can lead to
our congregation’s ability to proclaim the Gospel and change the world?
I’d like to propose a different game based on one of the
great heroes of 1980’s television: MacGyver!
MacGyver would never play the ‘If only’ game. Not once did he give up and say, “If only I
had
·
Car won’t start?
Take the spring from a ballpoint pen to replace a spring in the engine…and
off you go!
·
Trapped by the bad guys? Take a soccer ball, newspaper, cotton balls,
and olive oil to make a hot air balloon to signal those on the outside.
·
Locked in a freezer room? Use the light bulb to melt some ice, pour the
water into the door lock, and wait for the water to expand while freezing,
snapping the lock.
While it never looked like it in the moment, MacGyver
ALWAYS had enough. He had a gift for
looking at the things around him and figuring out how to combine them to do
really cool things. MacGyver always had
what was needed to help him accomplish what heeded to do.
The writers of MacGyver ensured that the right things
were in the right places so he could bring them together in effective
ways. Do we dare think that God does the
same thing?
One story we see in all four Gospels is the feeding of
the 5000. In the Gospel of John, Jesus
asks his disciples, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” Philip knows the ‘If only’ game well. “Jesus, six months’ wages would not buy
enough for each of them to get a little.”
Philip knows reality. They don’t
have enough.
Andrew, on the other hand, notices what they do have,
kind of like MacGyver. “There is a boy
here who has five barley loaves and two fish.”
This is where things get exciting.
When you take a few loaves and fish and add the power of God you get
enough. In fact, you get more than
enough. They collected twelve baskets of
left-overs.
What if we truly believed that God has already given us
enough to do what God calls us to do? What if your congregation played ‘MacGyver’
and not ‘If only?’
·
Not enough kids for a 5th grade
Sunday School class? Take a grandma
rooted in the faith, a local restaurant, and time after school and you get
relationship and faith building over ice cream sundaes.
·
No organist?
Take four high school band members and someone with the ability to
transpose music and you have accompaniment for worship.
This list could go on and on. As we look at what we have and creatively
(like MacGyver) figure out how they might fit together, all sorts of things can
happen. We will recognize that God has given us
enough.
Luther Snow has a different name for the ‘MacGyver’
game. He calls it ‘Asset Mapping.’ It’s a different way to approach challenges
in a congregation. Asset-based thinking
builds on the idea that God has given us everything we need to accomplish what
we're called to accomplish.
With God, there is always enough. It’s time to play ‘MacGyver.’ It’s an awesome, faith filled game!
When have you seen seemingly random assets come together
to do great things?
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