Last Thursday night (January 26, 2012), Allie and I hosted our very first church plant interest meeting. I invited some of our closest friends and family over to share with them my vision for the church I feel called to plant in Greensboro, NC.
I shared with them what God had been showing me through 2 Kings 2:18-21. Those few verses tell a story of a well-situated city (Jericho) cursed with dirty water and unproductive land until Elisha (a prophet of God) throws salt into it the water source out of a new bowl and God uses that salt to heal the water. The parallels to Greensboro are fairly simple: Greensboro is well-situated but full of people who are far from God (i.e. dying) and God will heal the land if we fill it with salt (Christians), but first we must consecrate (clean) ourselves to be like the new bowl.
The most powerful part of the passage for me as I studied it, and then as I shared it, was when I realized that before the people asked him to help, Elisha was already in the city drinking the dirty, cursed water (see verse 18). He was oblivious to the problem… how many Christians live in this city (or any other) and “drink the dirty water,” living without ever noticing that the people around them are suffering. I’ve lived that way for too long, it’s now time to get to the work of healing this town.
I am honored to have had them join me last night and I don’t know if any of them feels called to help us plant, but I love them all dearly either way. It was certainly nice to take a breath when it was all over (I know they are family but I was still nervous).
I have a great expectation about what God is going to do in this city through His church. I have a renewed excitement, vision, and determination to see the prodigal return home. I truly believe the best is yet to come!
