Don't Squander the Wander!

The older I get, the more I think the body of Christ, the timeless, endless group of followers of Jesus, are much like a Rubik’s cube.

Sure, in our wishful thinking we imagine the church is a perfect, beautiful tapestry of threads woven through the ages into a majestic scene of heavenly creatures. The danger here, in our mind’s eye, is that we might even pat ourselves on the back, praising ourselves for how well we praise God. How much we help Him out and make Him look good.  If we listen close enough, we might think we hear little harps and an angelic tune, played by little cherubic angels suspended above us by the fluttering of their tiny wings. Ah yes, that just might be us. Threads sitting lifeless in a row, looking like something, but not moving an inch. Lord help us.

Sometimes, the reality of Christian community can look more like a Connect Four board, with the prim and proper discs plunking into place in our set pew, in an endless game of “we’ve always done it this way”, making a fancy illusion of seeming connection in a line of four. Nice and neat. Within that framework, invariably we will see random people never fitting in or finding the game board all together. But we who have connected with our chosen few, don’t even notice because we just want to find our four and win the game.

Ah, but the cube.

Back in the day, when it first came out on the market, that six-sided puzzle of epic proportions and primary colors kept us engaged. Always challenged. Constantly moving the rows in this direction and that direction, with the stiff sounding crack and crunch of the gears moving tiny cubes within the big puzzle, we longed for perfection. The goal looming: to twist until each side showed only one distinct color, in uniform pattern. Far too often, it took way more moves than we ever imagined until we could twist that cube around and see a rewarding un-muddled finished product.

How many Rubik’s cube owners have gotten maybe one side solid, only to sigh in frustration seeing the other five in constant disarray? For many years I would have thought that the one-sided solution was really no solution at all. Unless all 6 were right, the thing just ain’t right. All or nothing. Perfection or hard pass. Oh, dear God, forgive us all for this kind of self-sabotage and short-sided thinking. God can do a lot with a little progress. And He can do a lot with His church. If we let Him.

God delights in our quest for unity. Biblical unity, focused on being committed to His Word, guided by His Spirit, and totally hinged on the truth of His Son’s gift of redemption. He calls us to unity. He calls us to community. He has instructed us to find our purpose, and make a difference. In the exact way He has created us.

God’s kind of unity is a beautiful thing. And always God’s will for us. But it doesn’t happen overnight, and surely not easily.

But what about our story? Our challenges, growth, setbacks, good days, bad days, the whole shebang. Friend, all those things, every high and low, makes us who we are. Gives us a narrow path to focus on. Makes us the very person God will use in ways we never imagined. If we are willing to step into our God given spot on the cube of life.

Our lives reflect every lesson, trial, and triumph. Whether we ever say a word. Make no mistake, our words matter. When we find ourselves in a crowd of people we’ve never met before, our experiences and exaltation of God have the potential to encourage someone, blowing a fresh wind in their sails. God will undoubtedly use us to be a lifeline of faith, if we point the listener to the One who has redeemed us, restored us, and calls us His own.

See, in this thing called faith, the mixed-up, messed-up cube of our journey holds the key to our testimony. The constant moves we have made through life lead us to new rows of people, new sides of our personal story. Each experience has the potential to get us one step closer to the people God wants us to invest our time and energy into, for the kingdom. For God’s renown. For eternity’s sake.

There will be days in this life where we can’t see anyone with our story on our side of the cube. What then? Reach out where we can, and then set out in search of a group we can resonate with. Boy, that first move outside our comfort zone can be tough. But it’s time to turn the cube blocks in a new configuration. Move to the right, or maybe to the left. Twist up a level, or tuck under to see what lies below. A new side of life might do us some good. Step out and see what God has!

As we go crunching in a new direction, choosing to find a new perspective amongst a tribe of people with our similar story of life, we might just find ourselves surrounded by a few treasured friendships. A balm for our soul. If we are intentional about our walk of faith, we can choose to become a piece of a whole side of unity we never knew before. God just may lead us to a crowd praising in unison, set on the goal, and loving well. Community. Even then, as we join together, we can’t see what’s going on over there on the other sides of the cube, but rest assured, God is doing a work there too.

And one day, on the other side of all this life has for us, we will experience the overwhelming perfection of heaven, where God will show us the completed picture. The moment we realize we’ve always been held in the hands of our loving Father, as He was working everything for our good. When we didn’t see the whole picture. And His plan never fails. Every side is perfect. Every puzzle solved. Oh Jesus, we praise you for the hope that awaits.