At our weekly staff meeting today, one of our next-generation leaders (less than half my age) spoke on one of our 12 Codes that we continuously cover, one at a time, week to week. His specific assignment code was “We are Faith-Filled, Big Thinkers: We dream big, celebrate big, and take big risks because we serve a big God.” He took us to Numbers 13 and the story of Moses sending a representative of each of the twelve tribes of Israel on a six-week covert mission to put real eyes on what this long-time promised land looked like. They were given a lengthy checklist of things to report back to Moses.
When the twelve returned, it was show and tell time. Everyone gathered around. Affirmation was given that Canaan really was as promised, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” And then verse 28 is the pivot. A list of all the reasons why it was too hard, too expensive, too big a task, and too impossible. But two people out of the twelve, whose names we most likely remember if we have heard the story more than a few times, disagreed: Caleb and Joshua. The other 10, well, we don’t even remember their names. The majority said, “we can’t.” The minority said, “we can.”
Pastor Brandon Holmes then spoke briefly about the majority of the 10 “we can’t” naysayers and how the rest of their lives must have been disappointing and unfulfilling. They were not faith-filled, big thinkers. They had nothing big to celebrate because they weren’t willing to take a big risk and they invested all of their time and energy in spreading discord and trying to convince everyone else why the risk was too great and the task was too tall. What a short-sighted and miserable way to exist.
I listened to the challenge of Pastor Brandon to our staff not to become comfortable with the amazing victories we see every week: radically transformed lives, five thousand people gathering weekly for worship, and thousands more who congregate at our family park and other types of events we host. Yet, there are still tens of thousands in our city and beyond who haven’t been reached. And, as I listened, I was ready to sign up… again!
This Easter weekend, 37 years ago, is when my wife and I publicly launched the church where I still serve on staff, Cape Christian. And now, with the leadership successfully handed off to the generations behind me, I absolutely love to hear the same heart and vision birthed nearly four decades ago being boldly proclaimed to our team. “We are Faith-Filled, Big Thinkers.” In the middle of 10 scouts who are now only a footnote in the story, I am so encouraged to see a new generation of Caleb and Joshua’s who will stand up to the mediocre majority and declare “we can.” While we were easily prepared for the 100 who showed up at that first Easter service in 1987, we are now enthusiastically primed for the possible 10,000 who may attend the seven services this Easter weekend.
Sign me up! While I am partially retired and only a half-time pastoral staff member these days, I can’t wait to see the lives that will be eternally changed this weekend. And, best of all, the next generation of leaders are incredible. Our Lead Pastor, Cory Demmel and other executive leaders like Brandon are not only talented leaders and passionate about loving God and loving people, they are faith-filled, big thinkers. They too are willing to be the minority who cast a vision that “we can” rather than make excuses for why “we can’t.” And the reason I’m right behind them, supporting them, following them, and cheering them on, is because they have zero desire to settle for the fact that “we did it” for the last 37 years and should now rest on our many successes.
Instead, they will not be satisfied with mediocre, middling, run-of-the-mill, average effort or results. There is vision. Our city continues to grow. When we began the church, there were less than 50,000. Now our city is over four times larger at 210,000. And since we are faith-filled, big thinkers, we just might have an opportunity, in the next 37 years, to forever impact one more person, one more couple, one more family, one more generation. Sign me up…again!
QUESTION: Where in your life have you been the minority and stood up with a “We Can” posture while the minority said, “We Can’t”? I’d love to hear about it.
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