What We Left Behind

From Pastor Joe Wickman: 20 years ago this church made a bunch of decisions that changed how we did church. We stopped wearing suits and started wearing khakis, and then, eventually, jeans. We traded the organ and the piano for guitars and drums. We took out the pews and bought new chairs. We changed the name of the church. We had a nice little church. We loved the Lord. Everything “worked.” So why change? We traded the predictability of “how we had always done it,” risking it all to go after the 1. We left behind: Our predictability and security Our preferences (music, dress, style) Our fears for the future We started inviting people who usually had nothing to do with church or the Lord. We started growing! We sold the church building that we owned debt-free. We started renting, which required us to set-up and tear-down twice weekly. We started thinking about the people who were not here yet. So we changed. We changed just about everything for the sake of the mission. But we committed to never change the message. But now I’ve come to a stunning realization. My 20-year-old daughter has no memory of that. She did not live through all of those changes. She’s always known New Life as it is today. So I’ve been wondering… 20 years from now, what will my daughters’ generation say was the great movement of God in their generation? Will we leave the 99 to go after the 1 today? Let’s talk about, “What we left behind” then so we can consider what to leave behind today. The 1 is still out there.