One of the things that successful organizations have to always keep before them is the value of, what I call, Thinking Forward. While it is important to have your focus on the Now, it is also just as important to look ahead. In fact, one of the keys to Lifepoint’s continued relevance is it’s ability to review current culture and point out where the church can best impact the local community of Byron and Peach and Houston Counties.
To let you in on some thinking and how far we allow brainstorming to go, ask yourself some questions. What can Lifepoint do to positivley impact its locality more than it is currently doing? Don’t just think of adding programs, think deeper to what inner cultural changes can be made…or should anything be changed at all?
We all know that all things green are prevelant in culture, more now than at any other time. What could or should we do as a church to acknowledge this shift in culture?
What about the impact of a black candidate for President? How should or could we work toward racial unity in our local environment?
What about the increase of Islam as a world religion and its misunderstanding in most conservative southern churches? What should or could we do to motivate a combining of efforts with Islamic, Jewish, Catholic and Protestant faiths to promote a better city and rural life for those around us?
These are not questions that most religious leaders want to listen to or acknowledge, but this is the life we live. These questions and more are on the minds and hearts of Middle Georgians. If we as a church do not seek to cultivate a community that at the very least entertains these questions, we will find ourselves running toward a road that ends with divisional walls separating the “us” from the “them”.
Lifepoint is a different place entirely. We challenge the “us/them” question consistantly. We see Macon in a downward spiral and ask, “What can we do?” We see the increase in gas prices and ask, “What can we do?” We look out and hear the discomfort and unease around us and ask, “What can we do?” But more than just ask the questions, when we have defined a place where we can make a difference, we do something.
No, we do not feed thousands and build hundreds of homes and provide countless jobs, but we do what we can. Often we as individuals look out and feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of problems that surround us. We become paralyzed and still. At Lifepoint we have been there too. Paralyzed and unsure of what action to take.
The difference is that we constantly relook and relook at circumstances to provoke us to do something. We have provided water for those in Africa and shelter for those in Houston County. Is there more to do? Certainly, and because of that don’t be suprised when things change.
The central guiding focus of Lifepoint is to provide an environment where those who do not know God or who have known and left can come and experience a place to grow into faith. It’s OK to not believe in God, or be gay, or have a less than stellar background. We know that the God we serve is large and His love is large. We also know that when allowed to question faith without resistance in a supporting environment, people find a God that loves them way more than they first thought, loves them where they are and walks with them throughout life.
Re-invention and innovation go hand in hand. For a church to be innovative it must continually be re-inventing itself. Two results follow. One is that the core continues to evolve and change; the other is that new people who once thought that God had no place for them, suddenly find themselves immersed in a community of people set on making a difference one person at a time.
That is Lifepoint.
christopherhildreth 