Have you ever built a house before? I haven't, and the world is a better place because of that! :) However, I have watched houses get built (in fact, I currently have the pleasure of watching the new Vikings stadium get built with the generous funding of my tax dollars!) and I've noticed something - the bulk of the building process is super boring, but absolutely necessary. For example, a huge chunk of time is spent working on the foundation, making sure the wiring and plumbing are installed properly, putting up the framing, etc. Once these necessities are in place, the fun stuff can begin - the siding, carpeting, appliances, paint, etc. However, it doesn't matter how beautiful the curb appeal is or if you have granite countertops or wall-to-wall carpeting - if your electrical work is a joke or if your plumbing goes nowhere and does nothing, your house will soon be unfit for human inhabitation.
I believe there are so many parallels between this and what we're doing. Currently, we're in the "boring but necessary" portion of planting. We're creating a culture of bi-vocationalism (everyone, including myself, is a bi-vocational missionary). We're laying the foundations of multiplication, evangelism, discipleship, generosity, and diversity. We're developing our identity as communities of individuals who live true life in Christ together as families and invest heavily in the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of the City. Soon enough, the fun, flashy stuff will come (cool name, hip logo, large-group worship, etc.) But if we skipped the plumbing and went straight to installing countertops, it would just be a matter of time before everything collapsed.
PS - if you would, please help us out in HUGE way with the fun, flashy stuff and take 1 minute to answer this 5-question survey. Thanks!
PPS - If you haven't done so yet, sign-up on The Table to see what's happening at Genesis on a regular basis.
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