Seeking Significance

Recently I was reminded of the report that states: "For the first half of our lives, we seek success; for the last half of our lives, we seek significance." Since the oldest, documented living person currently on planet Earth is 115, I am definitely in the second or last half of my life. And life the results of the report, I, too, find myself wanting to do those things that will make a difference - things that will have a significant impact upon people and upon institutions.

I mention institutions because my profession is largely about working with churches. The role is varied and includes helping start new churches, helping revitalize decaying or declining churches, and encouraging healthy churches. In the fabric of our culture, churches have held places of significance. Our culture has looked to churches to provide moral and ethical leadership, to provide spiritual stability and strength, to develop children and adults as morally upright individuals, and to care for those in need.

It is true that such a view of the church has not been continuous in our history. In fact, this may not be one of those time segments when our nation views the church in such high esteem. But it is because of that possibility that I feel a need to help encourage churches toward a renewed reality of significance in these days.

My desire in this last segment of my employed life is not to help churches and church leaders become what the culture wants them to be but rather to help them become what God has stated He wants them to be. Whether we look at the Old Testament in the Bible and see God using the nation Israel to reveal His purpose and love, or in the New Testament with the emergence of the church as the Body of Christ, we see that the real significance of the church is in the transformation of lives by the power of God. Significance is not in the amount of property, size of budgets, or weekly attendance. The significance of the church has always been in God's transformation of people who come to Him in faith through Jesus Christ.