Clam At A Clam Bake
Let’s face it, small start up churches like Lightshine face more obstacles than a clam at a clam bake. The list of challenges is daunting, but as my favorite strength and conditioning coach Zach Even-Esh is fond of saying, “every obstacle is really an opportunity”; an opportunity for growth.
Nothing great was ever achieved in this world without overcoming adversity, without turning obstacles into opportunities. Lightshine Church is laden with opportunities because we face so many challenges.
Banana Seat Schwinn
Year three in a start up church is critical. The number 3 may seem a bit arbitrary, but the simple facts speak for themselves. The funding that we have received from our denomination and our parent church is dwindling as we learn how to become self-sustaining. I liken it to a child learning how to ride a bike; at some point the training wheels come off and they learn to ride on their own.
I remember this exact moment for me when I was a kid. I had the coolest bike ever! It was a new, red, sparkly, banana seat Schwinn. On one momentous day the training wheels were taken off the bike and I was admittedly terrified of what was about to happen. I got the encouraging pep talk from my Dad who then gave me the big push. I started pedaling as fast as I could as my Dad ran alongside me holding on to the back of the banana seat. Then the moment of truth, he let go! I did it! I was riding my new bike like a champ, all on my own. Well..... at least for a moment before I crashed off the side of the road, gravel rocks penetrating the skin on my hands and reducing my knees to a bloody pulp. Yes, it hurt! And yes, I cried. But I wanted to ride that stinking bike more than anything in the world, so wiping away the tears, I got back on the bike. Together, my Dad and I did it again. The second time was a success as I proudly rode around our street over and over again, bloody knees and all.Stewards of A Dream
An obstacle (fear and failure) had become an opportunity for me to push through in order to achieve my dream of learning to ride a bike. I could have quit, but I wanted it too bad. Now having gone through this experience with my own daughters learning to ride a bike at the end of our street, I know that my Dad wanted me to succeed even more than I did (it was a shared dream). He must have taken great satisfaction in seeing me achieve my dream to ride that awesome red bike he bought for me all by myself.
God has given me a dream today that is so much bigger than riding a bike. I call this dream Lightshine Church. I see myself more like a steward or caretaker of God’s dream. Ligtshine is a small but important part of God’s dream for the world that He created especially for the friends around us that do not have a church to call home. Maybe we are all stewards of God’s dream right here in the Conejo Valley (but that’s a different blog post).
I know that I am not alone in this dream as many of you share it as well. Year three presents us with many obstacles, and with these obstacles come even more opportunities because God is behind this dream; pushing us, running along side us, holding onto to the seat and encouraging us to pedal hard so that together, we can achieve the dream.
Adversity To Advantage
I sincerely believe that what we are doing is important. Starting new churches is a vital work for us today. Nothing in the world is more important than the mission of God. I also believe that like an encouraging Dad, God wants to see us succeed. It is true that in year 3 we do face many obstacles at Lightshine as we work toward sustainability. But obstacles are opportunities to turn adversity into advantage. As Lewis Howes writes in The School of Greatness, great people and great organizations,
“learn the importance of persevering toward their vision despite that adversity. They learn the language so they can tell the world what they want to do and who they want to become”.
We hold a shared dream. So let’s tell the world what we want to do and who we want to become as we follow Jesus on mission together! We will fall down. We may skin our knees. But pushing through the adversity is the only way achieve the dream and we need EVERYBODY all in!!
Robert Douglas
Organizing Pastor
Lightshine Church
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