Grow Up

There was once a show on NBC called “Ed.” It was pretty good show. But eventually the series ended. Well now they are replaying the series on TBS at 12:00 noon. So I occasionally take an episode in. The other day I was watching and was struck by the conversation between Ed and Carol. It was short, but went something like this:

Carol: Every 17-year-old kid wants to grow up and be a rock star. Most of them wise up and grow out of it.

Ed: Why are we always so condescending toward our younger selves? We should be looking back in awe of who we were. All that passion. All that fire. All those dreams. And then it all fades and people say, “That is just part of growing up.”

Now combine that with a short quote from Regan’s blog from the other day, courtesy of Doug Pagitt:
“We often say that we want the dreams of Solomon's Porch to reflect the dreams of the people in our community. We want that list to keep growing and changing with us. It was never meant to be stagnant.”

Perhaps the reason churches lose intensity or become stagnant and ineffective is because the dreamers stop dreaming. Or, perhaps their dreams have been squashed in light of practicality or tradition. When we hear phrases like, “It’s never been done that way before,” or “I don’t think the people are ready for that,” or “That sounds too hard,” it is like water tossed on the fire. It quenches the flames of excitement.

I appreciate the outlook of Solomon’s Porch where everyone’s dreams are important and they shape where that church goes. Granted, there are times when dreams and goals are unattainable, at least by human effort. I think that is why Jesus says things like, “The kingdom belongs to such as children.” Their innocence, enthusiasm, and joy are characteristics that mark the kingdom. They don’t know that something can’t be done. They just see the end result.

The passion of youth. It should mark the kingdom and all of our lives because we believe in a God that can do the impossible.