Build A Better Home
How do you build a better home?
You make sure you find the right builders
Ones who build a better home with:
Solid foundations
A sound structure
And supporting beams
Have you ever been around somebody’s house that felt like a show home?
You know the type
Where you feel a steely glare if you put your coffee cup down in the wrong place
Or you have to hover over the carpet, just in case you wear it out
It just doesn’t feel comfortable does it?
Something just doesn’t feel right
Seems a little fake
And you certainly don’t feel like you’re welcome
Makes you feel as though you don’t want to come back
That’s not building a better home
Using your gifts to build a better home
Last week I shared a little on being asked to write and direct our Church’s first Christmas Production
As I started writing the script, I realised that God was using me to build something more than a Christmas Show
I felt He was using my gift to
To build a better home
God tells us in Matthew 16:18 that ‘He will build His Church’
And He does it with His people
But I felt God was asking me to rise to more than just leading actors, musicians and a production team
Through the process of God stripping things away and me taking a step back, I actually felt I had become a better leader
One who didn’t base people’s worth on their rank or title
A leader who didn’t ache for the applause or credit
And one that leaves their ego at the door
The motive behind the Christmas Production’s script, was to show the people the God I know and love
With that in mind
I started to build my team
As I ‘pitched’ my idea to them
They were excited and honoured to be part of the vision that God had placed in my heart
Through this Production, God was using me to make His House
A home
Build a better home
Over the months of rehearsals, my team started to feel like family
I wanted them to feel comfortable in the messy process of developing this new and creative idea God had put in me
I wanted them to take ownership of what we were trying to create
I wanted to pour everything I knew about how to perform drama on stage into them
At first some were apprehensive and fearful that they could pull something like a huge Production off
But my Pastors believed in me
And I believed in the team
And we supported each other
I wanted to build a better home for each team member
Where they could feel safe and secure in the process of giving birth to this idea
Ed Catmull who is president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation said this;
“I know some people who like to keep their gem completely to themselves while they polish it.”
In other words
Ideas can’t be hidden
We can’t keep our ‘gems’ to ourselves
Frantically polishing them
Until they are perfect and sparkly
That’s not how you build a better home in the House of God
At the start of our rehearsals nothing was polished – believe me!
But as I started to lead and ‘build a better home’ for the team
We polished that gem TOGETHER
Nothing that we do as believers is for us to keep to ourselves
We need to build a relationship with God and with each other
So people sense that they’ve come home in the House of God
We need to stop ‘doing’ Church
And start ‘being’ the Church
I am blessed to be able to write stories
And I want to be a blessing to others
I know God is using my gifting to draw people to Himself
Together we can build God’s House
But as His disciples we can build a better home
John 3:29-30 says it so beautifully
“That’s why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for Him to move into the centre, while I slip to the sidelines.”
When we do that as His people
God’s House becomes a Home
Where we can help people feel safe and secure
A home where we don’t need to strive and push our way forward
A home where we can forge new ground with creative projects
Without the fear of being scolded for getting it wrong
Innovative ideas that cause people to sit up and notice that Church isn’t boring
We serve a creative God
And
When we let God move to the centre
And we slip to the sidelines
We have solid foundations
A sound structure
And supporting beams
To
Build a better home
Wendy xo