Are We There Yet?

I will never forget trips as a child in the car. The worst ones were from my home in Louisiana to Little Rock AR, or Springfield MO. There were several summers in a row that we would drive that stretch. I can remember hoping to fall asleep so that I would not have to endure sitting still and locked up in a car any longer than I had to. I also remember devising all kinds of games to pass the time while I was awake. I wonder how many times my Mom, or my Grandparents had to endure this question or a dozen others just like it.

I find myself today fighting this same urge, as I look down the road to where we are headed as a community of believers. What I must remember is that we are on the journey of a lifetime. Today things will look quite different than they will in a year, ten years, or even twenty. People will come and go, and methods may change. We will make mistakes along the way, experience growing pains, and then sometimes we might even get something right. While there will be changes of scenery along the way, there are some things that should always be the same. At every point , we should find that we are standing on the truth and not tradition.

Which brings me back to the question that led us down this path; Are we there yet?

Have we become the church that God wants us to be? I think that we can honestly say that some of the characteristics we can find in the Bible, shine in this family, but others are just in the beginning stages. Paul wrote that even he, one of the heroes of the faith, was constantly growing and pushing on towards the goal (Philippians 3:12-14). I think we should follow suit. We are on a journey, following in Christ’s way. We do not have to be in a rush or get in a hurry, the trip is part of the process. We just need to remain committed to Him, and I have no doubt that we will become all that He intends us to be, and His work will become evident in the words we say and the things we do.