The Church in My Mind

I'm taking a church planting class right now (even though I am not thinking about planting a church; long story), and something was said in that class the other day that has haunted me ever since. The professor quoted Ed Stetzer as saying, "The mistake most church planters make is planting the church in their mind, not the church that should be in their community."

For an individual who is spending most of his free time trying to determine what ministry God has in store for him, this quote hit me right between the eyes. I think many of us are guilty of doing things on our own terms and telling ourselves that it is really God's work that we are doing. But the reality is that the work God has for us is not always exactly what we'd like to be doing.

My prayer is that God will reveal clearly what work He wants us to do, but moreso, that we will be open enough to listen and respond, no matter what.