During the stunning weather in the early days of lockdown, we really enjoyed playing some time-tested games in the back garden with our kids. “What Time is it Mr Wolf?” and “Stick in the Mud” regularly featured, but one of the favourites was “Traffic Lights.” That particular game has a simple concept: when someone shouts green you run around, amber equals running on the spot and red means you sit still.
As well as being a great way to expend our kids’ energy, I wonder if it might also be a helpful way to think about how we re-open things in the life of our congregations. In this moment we have a unique opportunity to prayerfully discern what God wants us to return to as a congregation, what we should retain from what we have learned and what we should reassess in terms of what we might do differently. Should everything get a green light when it’s ready or is this a moment to consider what things might cease, while also imagining what could emerge?
Learning about ourselves
We have learned a lot about ourselves as congregations throughout this time. There are things we had to stop doing that we have learned to appreciate in new ways. There are things we never have imagined we could do that have become new strings to our bow. There are things that we have had to adapt and change and pivot, and through it all we have discovered treasures old and new.
In Matthew 13:52, Jesus said that “every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” In a similar way, the future storeroom of our congregation’s life and witness contains a mixture of old treasures we need to get back to and new possibilities we hadn’t seen before. There may also be new ways of doing old things. We can’t do everything and so we find ourselves in a moment in which future priorities need to be balanced and tailored to God’s design for our future. So, what will you bring out of your storeroom?
Actively still before God
If we are to be able to answer that question it is so important to still ourselves to hear from God in these days. We need to actively look for God’s hand shaping the next season of our life and witness together and as we do that we should take time to reflect alongside others with whom we lead.
While it is helpful to communicate clearly, there is also a pressing need to consider what we have been learning and how God has been shaping us. What activities were shown during lockdown to be the foundations of our life together and our witness to others?
While it is important to press ahead into a new season of church life, it is also good to assess the fruitfulness of our activities, particularly those things that have seemed to become less important or effective than we might have thought they were before.
And while it is vital to cover the practicalities and small details, it is essential that we also lead with imagination and increased vision for what God might be wanting to do among us in these days. What new ways of doing things during lockdown now offer fresh possibilities for the future?
Opening Up to God resource
As we open buildings and increase our activity, let’s make sure we open ourselves up to God. And before you run hard through the green light, don’t be scared to run on the spot or even sit still to encounter him afresh and know his leading in these days.
To help you do that, a short one-off session entitled Opening Up to God combines some of the questions above, the traffic lights image and some simple next steps to help leaders work through a conversation designed to illuminate God’s way ahead. Take a more detailed look and download Opening up to God here.
Rick Hill is PCI's Discipleship Development Officer.