A friend of mine was telling me about their small group time last week. They are part of a church plant that is approaching the 3 year mark and the pastor is part of their group. As with most church plants the 2-3 years old time is a critical one where the honeymoon ends and the church's identity is really solidified. The pastor is feeling the pressure of this and is working hard to hear from God as they move forward.
As part of this process he decided to share some of his thoughts with the small group and asked them to comment and offer feedback on how they felt about all of this. At least half of the group has been involved with this church almost from the beginning and immediately began to share of how they missed the way it was in the beginning, the way it was programmed, everyone knew each other... in general longing to recapture that 'first time' feeling.
'First times' are great and it is always fun to reminisce about those. But there is a fine line between fondly reflecting on the past and getting stuck there. It reminds me of an episode of 'Friends' where Phoebe has a new boyfriend and everything is hot and heavy and full of passion and excitement. Monica begins to get jealous because her and Chandler are a couple of years into their relationship and past that initial excitement. When she confesses this to Chandler she says 'we're never going to have that again, that first kiss, that first time we talked through the night' etc.... He smiles at her and says 'yeah, but I don't think about all that. I think about all the firsts that are still ahead, like our first kid, our first house, first grandkid', etc...
The lesson here is not to get caught up in what was, but to be excitedly anticipating what's next. As a church that is now 2-3 years old, sure you won't have that first Sunday again, or that first baptism, or first small group. But you can look forward to reaching 500 for the first time, or that first permanent space you'll have, or that first mission trip, or first new church you plant out of yourselves. The cool thing is that as you grow the firsts just keep getting bigger and better and more exciting. So definitely take time to celebrate the past and all that God has done, but never take your eyes off of what he's about to do next. Anyone can look back, but it takes true vision to see what's next.
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