Environment Creators

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My disclaimer is that this post has a similar theme to my last one.

This week we took our 2 year old to Castle Espie for a little morning fun.  This was also my first time there.

To quote “Get up close to Ireland’s largest collection of native and exotic water birds, bats and migrant birds whilst taking in sunning estuary views.”

There was something beautiful and amazing at seeing just how many birds actually inhabit what seems like a small part of the world.  I have been to many animal themed attractions – places where animals are somewhat confined to select parts of the park while people like me look at them.

The weird thing about my experience this week was noticing how none of the birds seem confined or locked in, in any way. They seemed free to come and go as they pleased.  There were no nets, no roofs and seemingly no boundaries. There was clearly something though about this “place” that just simply made birds (and lots of them) want to be there. The environment was right and the culture of that space made it somewhere they just wanted to be – because it offered them all the qualities they needed.

And this got me thinking about church, and the Kingdom.

Sometimes we can get so obsessed about “growing” our communities that “being” community takes a back seat.  There is something beautiful about the idea of simply creating the right culture that will seem incredibly attractive to a broken, hurting world. I am convinced that programs and events aren’t really what people are desiring.  Don’t get me wrong, we need events to create the initial contact point for people.  But people are longing for connection with people – real connection and real life.  And that is the most natural thing in the world – and we can’t ever force or program that.  When we do it seems forced and fake.

I’m challenged to just simply “be” the environment.  Not try to plan, program or come up with a strategy plan for people – just to be a human being doing real life and showing that real authentic love that flows from his kingdom.

This is back to this idea of “just be”.  We are responsible for creating the environments and culture around us.  We cultivate the Kingdom – and when we do that well, when we love like Jesus – we become the most attractive people on earth.

As we walked around this bird sanctuary, I joked with my husband, wondering if any of the birds were having meetings or convos about how to get more birds to know about this great place called Catle Espie. Did these birds have a plan?
And the answer was no, of course they didn’t. They where just happy doing life and no doubt naturally trying to find friends to tell them about this epic place they’d found.

We get the incredible privilege of carrying  Jesus.  We are hosts of his presence and operate in a kingdom the world can only see through us.

Let’s be people who live out of who we are and whose we are – it’s natural, healthy, and our communities will grow and flourish because of it.

Just Be……

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There have been 2 phrases that have haunted me for the last while and seem to be uttered by those nearest and dearest to me.

 
The first phrase that I have come to loathe “it is what it is” – frequently released from the mouth of my husband, usually in moments when I have zero control over a situation that I am desperately trying to change. Reminding me that I can’t change it and to embrace it because after all “it is what it is”, makes me want to swing for him, not only because I hate the phrase but because deep down I know he is right.  There is nothing we can do at times other than to embrace the moment, to sieze the day because guess what – it is what it is.
 
The second phrase “just be” is tediously linked, and is the most recent repetitive saying that has creeped into recurrent conversations with my closest sidekick Erin Griffith. 
 
She has helped me think this phrase out and contributed to the following ramblings.  
(One day she’ll write an entire post for me – I know it)
 
This is a simple idea.  
 
I love that as people – we overcomplicate everything.  
 
As the people of God we are on a mission. We carry the presence of God.  We build a community.  We make disciples. We tell the world about Jesus and His good Father.  I am passionate about the mission – I love talking about it. I love inspiring other people about the mission. I am so committed to seeing the church be everything that she can be. The church is truly the hope of the world.
 
But hope, change and this mission of ours is incomplete if we all just sit around and talk about it. I realise that it can be so easy to sit around and talk about the things that we find frustrating about our personal worlds.  The change we want so desperately to happen, and we talk about it what it COULD look like. As friends we have understood that the conversation must move beyond words – there is an action in those moments. And it doesn’t come from anyone else but us. 
 
Ghandi put it most eloquently when he said “be the change you want to see in the world”
 
And that is the challenge – to Just Be.
 
We are guilty at times about talking about the changes we want to see. The organisers among us create teams, we have strategy meetings about the real meetings we are going to have, and we plan out how best to bring about the change. The meetings can seem endless and the doer in me hates all the talk. There’s some stuff that we simply just can’t plan because it simply is about us just “BEING the people of God”
 

I can’t help but read the gospels and be challenged by the fact that Jesus simply came into the world and “showed” us His world so to speak.  Yes He talked – but He had this “just be” thing sorted. He came and He did. He changed a culture by just simply living out the kingdom He was king of. His kingdom is different. It’s not one of talk but of power.

It’s not breaking news, but the more time we spend getting to know Jesus the more we become like Him. This makes “just being” that bit easier.
 
So when the thoughts come, “I wish things wouId change, I want the church and the world to be different, I wish I was part of a better community, one which is authentic & one where the people are active in each others lives” JUST BE.  Be the community you want to see. Be the culture you dream of. Invite people into your world, be vulnerable, be real. If it’s real and authentic then it’s easy – no one is trying to force anything, it should be as natural as breathing. To just be Jesus – because we carry Him.
 
I know there’s a place for planning – I’m not discounting that at all. But somewhere along the way have we lost the fine art of just being? Being part of a kingdom – being natural, being supernatural. Not talking about it. Just being it. Because that is who we are. Do your part. It’s time to set a new normal, change your culture. Let people see your substance is something worth having – when we live it, they see it, and when they see it, they will want to live it too.
 
JUST BE!