Daily Lesson #2 = I am not a professional…

Professional - following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain.

There are many professions in life and there are many things one can become a professional at. From business people to police officers, from teachers to stay at home moms we can become professionals at so many things. Where it is not wrong to become a professional in these and many others areas I was reminded this past week that I a not a professional church planter.

Last weekend was Mother’s Day and we were so excited about celebrating all the moms that would be coming and we had a great message about principles we can learn from mothers in the Bible. Just as service was about to start I saw a young woman walking towards the church that I did not recognize so I thought I would wait at the door and greet her as she came in. As she approached I reached out my hand and introduced myself to her. She shook my hand and introduced herself. I asked her if it was her first time and she said yes. She then said, “I have never been to church but I want to start and explore spirituality. I lost my mom less then a year ago and I am having a hard time with it.”

Those words hit me like a ton of bricks (in a good way) and it made me rethink everything I was going to say that night. It caused me to rethink our neatly outlined program and it caused me to rethink why I do what I do. As some of the team came up to me at the end of the night to talk about how the service went the only thought that went through my mind was, “who cares, we are not professional church planters.”

We are not here to have the most polished service in the world or to offer the best sounding worship. We are not here to wow people with our program, cool look and hyped up message. Do we want all of those things sure but we are here to minister to those who are hurting like this young woman. We are here to preach the good news of Jesus Christ and to serve our community in the best way possible.

I am not doing what I am doing because I am following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain. I am doing what I am doing because I want to help people discover Jesus Christ. I am not a professional church planter or a professional Christian for that matter. The day it becomes a profession to me is the day I need to resign as pastor and as a Christian.

I am so thankful for that young woman who walked through the doors of URBAN on Sunday night because it brought me back to the reason we do what we do and reminded me that I am not a professional church planter. I am just a guy who wants to help people discover Jesus Christ, realize their dream and begin to live in that dream.

Thanks for listening
Dream Big
Ben