#21 Beyond Church

The church - both the global body of all believers and the local body to which we belong - is a means of God's Grace - both to the whole world and to our own community. And God chooses to use us as a means to communicate that Grace to each other inside the church as well as to others. Lest we get tangled up in comparing our own accomplishments with that of others, I believe the following is useful. What I accomplish compared to others is much less important than how faithfully I use what I do have. So I need to look around, and consider what I can do, both within my church and outside of it.

For me, I love music, so I (still) sing in our church choir and in a Christian men's chorus. As asked, I serve on organizations inside the church. I also feel deeply for men who have found themselves boxed themselves in by addiction or by a criminal lifestyle and want to break out of that life, so I joined an organization that uses the power of Christian thinking and the support of "triangles" (see #17) to help them grow a new life. I used math in my career, so I've gone into a local state prison as a tutor to help students understand how math works. Everyone has a different set of gifts and a different personality, so everyone's focus will be different. But for me, participating in the life of my church is foundational to serving outside of it. And vice versa, serving outside my church is foundational to my life inside of it.

So some conclusions I've reached it's important to:

• as far as I'm able, to conduct myself in my community as one face of the church

• seek to be a positive force in my community

• be ready to share what I believe

• listen for the Spirit's leading