90 day journey to the big 4-0

Friends:

It turns out that Thursday, March 13, 2008 is a significant day in my life. Today I am officially 90 days shy of my 40th birthday. I have thought a lot over the last few months about what it means for me to be turning” the big 4-0”. It leads me to wonder what God has in store for me as I live into my fifth decade as a member of this planet. New friend Doug Pagitt recently challenged me, when speaking about church work and life, “ask yourself if this is this how you want to spend your forties?” I had not really thought about my life in that way, breaking it down in decade long intervals. It makes sense, I just never thought of my life in that way before. As I journey through my life and try to walk in a way of faith I find myself wanting to create a list of hopes and dreams for the next decade. The more I engage in my walk with God the more I feel passionate about walking in and toward the light of Christ and making myself into an expression of the gift of life given to me by our Creator. Here is the start of the list I am creating about this transition in my life. I will be blogging daily about this walk toward 40, and invite you to join me as I attempt to discover if the passions I believe God is placing in my heart will translate into real action and change in my life and those whose lives I am connected with.

Church: I am feeling called to help those I share a calling with to journey the walk of a disciple rather than a member of a church. I sense God calling me to speak to and with those on a journey of faith rather than those “fixed” in a comfortable final destination. I feel passionate about traveling with those who are questioning their faith, life, and how faith and life connects within the context they find themselves in. I would like to help others, and myself, to change our view of what the church is and what it is called to be. I have been ruminating over a quote from one of my favorite authors, Brian McLaren, about the church and what he sees as God’s vision for the purpose of the church. McLaren writes of how the role of the church is not about meeting your individual needs but rather about inviting others to join the mission of God’s people to meet the world’s needs. I want to spend my forties exploring what living into that means.

Family: I want to spend my forties being the best husband and father I can be. I desire to be a role model for faithful living within the context of raising a family and nurturing relationships with those closest to me. I am committed to being intentional about investing in the lives of those who surround me.

Health: I have often attempted to convince myself that I was committed to healthy living. However, often my actions do not always reflect a commitment to that journey. God entrusted me with a physical body and charged with its care. Too often over the last few years I have taken this for granted. I feel encouraged to change this and model the life I speak about in a more definitive way.

Environment: God has really been convicting me lately to take a larger role in caring and advocating for our planet. I like to think I was interested in this before the recent buzz about “being green”, but only in the last year have I began to seriously look at how we are caring for the environment God has entrusted us with. I want to continue to strengthen my knowledge and voice about environmental issues and encourage others into care of this awesome earth we are privileged to reside in.

Justice: This concept is freshest on my radar. God is really working on me to be more of an advocate. I feel I have spent too little time in public ministry acting and speaking out for injustice in our world. I am dedicated to change that and lend myself in partnership with others as a voice for justice.

There you have it. This represents the ground floor of a list that will be ruminated over, molded, shaped and perhaps modified over the next ten years. I wonder, if you examined your life in the same way, how God is calling you to be His agent over the next decade. Remember, it is not a question of if, but rather how God is calling you. What things or issues is God placing in your heart to be passionate about?