After further reflection, I'd like to apologize for this quote, "what if this was our job?" spoken by me on Sunday night. I am thoroughly enjoying our time together, the conversations, the relationships that are forming, the intentional effort to dream and challenge each other, the potential future, and of course, the ping pong.
Elizabeth and I haven't "formally" gone to church for almost two years. While this is our choice, our souls still long for that connection, to be a part of a community that is pushing each other forward, challenging each other to look at Jesus's invitation to be truly human, while creatively advancing the Kingdom of God. There have been various occasions in our time together when I step back and look at the big picture of what is happening with us, and I get very excited, because it just feels right. It's not perfect, we aren't always sure what we are doing, but there is a similar heart, and we stumble along together, and I love it.
That being said, I feel like, if we intentionally made choices to try to make this our job, an income making venture, I think we would kill what we have going. I mean, isn't that one of the biggest reasons why we are frustrated by church - decisions being made that are motivated by making money to pay the staff, to take care of the building, or build a new one?
If we do have an event, or an opportunity to make money, then of course we should be wise stewards of that opportunity. Not as income for us, but as resources to reinvest into what we are doing, or whatever our next project is.
I really appreciate you guys, and I'm excited about what the future holds. Once the motivation becomes about making money as income, then it changes everything. I lived that nightmare at Sonrise, and again in Nashville with Mosaic. So, once again, I apologize taking us down that path for a few minutes.
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6 comments:
Josh,
These are wise and thoughtful words. Usually individuals with this kind of insight withhold it and wait for a Senior Pastor salary before they share it. Thanks for the free honesty! Money is the root of all kinds of evil. Let's not let it be one of the roots of what P3 is about, thereby avoiding all kinds of evil!
So I guess my new name, "Willowpong Fellowship" is out huh...
i think i agree with Paul, however to look deeper into the motivation for your comment Josh, i agreed with your sentiment at the time. i would rather be with you guys than doing most other non-family related stuff. P3 is very good for me as well and i think that we all on some level want to spend more time doing what we do together. when we ask what stands in the way, primarily the answer is "work," the 40+ hours we spend doing other stuff to pay for other stuff, etc. so perhaps the motivation for the comment is shared by all, not in terms of "making money" but in terms of not being limited, in a communal sense, by having to spend
40+ "making money." maybe you were asking how we could spend more time together and still make ends meet. i dont think money was really the point.
Paul - I think it's "the love of money"
Tym - what about Saddlepong?
Jordan - my Affluenza reading friend, I couldn't have said it better. Thank you! I need to pass that book on.
Josh-
I assume that if you are pursuing it, that you must love it. Maybe I'm wrong. Jordan said it best. Money is a resource, making it both a means and therefore a necessary end. We have friends right now who are in language school in Costa Rica who have committed their entire lives to serving the Spanish speaking urban poor. They are running out of money and need 6K or they will have to leave school half way through and regroup. Is this a financial problem, a faith problem, their problem for not raising enough support? Does the situation need God or just some cash? There has to be a balance between all of our earthly mandates to work hard, provide for our families, tithe and give, care for our community, be good stewerds of our talents and resources AND the mandate to not fall in love with money, which is often our tangible means of accomplishing all of the other mandate. "Money isn't everything...Not having it is" I close with a song lyric that I recently heard. This should look different for people of faith, right?
"Is this a financial problem, a faith problem, their problem for not raising enough support?"
I think it's a perspective problem. If someone wanted to dedicate their lives serving the spanish-speaking urban poor, they wouldn't even need to leave Warsaw. If someone wanted to do that in a spanish-speaking country, all they would really need is a couple of plane tickets. It's been my experience that the situation your friends are in, is a "I want to serve the spanish speaking urban poor, but I don't want to live like them, so I have to raise alot of money so other people can pay for me to live comfortably while I am serving the spanish speaking urban poor." Perspective. Get jobs. Live as cheaply as you can and save $. Take a few Spanish classes at the local college, or get a computer program. Study up on the country you want to live in, maybe even take a trip there to scout things out. When you are ready to go, go for it. It's a perspective problem. Re-think. Savoir Vivre.
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