Early on in my ministry in Willits, CA, God began to send us some of the fringe-type people in our community. This bothered some of the folks in our church and resulted in a not-too-surprising comment from one of our parishioners. Just before he and his family left our fellowship, he said to me, “We want to attend a church with normal people!”
As he walked away I thought to myself, “Good luck pal!”
As you’ve no doubt come to realize, “normal” churches do not exist! Honestly, I think this guy was equating “normal” with folks similar to himself. Since the church is nothing short of being a spiritual hospital, a place where hungering, hurting, thirsting, and broken people come for renewal and encouragement, how could there be even one “normal” church out there?
I’ve been around them for most of my life — and every one of them fall short in some way; every one of them, at some point, is a dud! Fact is, Laurie and I have not yet found one here in Oregon that offers everything we love and has as members perfectly adorable, committed, caring Christians; we have not yet found one that offers a perfect, inspiring blend of worship and Bible exposition. We’re stuck with kind of a “one or the other” choice!
So, very recently I was praying about this and the thought popped into my head (and I believe it was the Lord speaking): “Stay put!” In the long run, it seems best to me to simply pick a church fellowship, plant, then persevere — until or if God leads otherwise. This is the decision we have reached.
Perhaps you too are a church “hopper-and-shopper”! Maybe God would have you simply stay put, at least for now? Since there is no perfect place out there, why not simply pick, plant, and participate? Oh, and by the way: The reason we (you and I) haven’t found a “sublime sanctuary” is simply this: We are there!