Wedding Planning...

I was reading a blog by Kent Shaffer (Churchrelevance.com) he was talking about the wedding ring pillow his wife was making. He pointed out the meticulous planning that goes into the wedding. While reading that it stuck me how right he is. In my time as a pastor I did several weddings. Each one was different, butt each one was meticulously put together. The dress had to be just right, the day had to be just right, the guest list had to be complete, the cake had to be perfect… And on my side there was great planning too. We had to have a certain number of counseling sessions before the wedding. I had to get the right scriptures, the sanctuary had to be laid out just right, the music had to be done well, everything had its place and everything had to be planned for. It took months, or maybe for the bride and groom, a year or more to plan. I often wish that people would put as much time into the marriage as they do the wedding. If they did that we would have a lot less broken families these days.

Sometimes I think, that we approach our relationship with Christ the same way. As believers we plan the wedding. We know just what we are going to say to an unbelieving friend. We plan out the invitation to a special youth event, a church service, or just coffee and deep discussion at the local café. We know what scriptures we are going to use to get the point across, we have prayed and prayed and prayed and then prayed some more for the right words, the right moment, and the right heart to receive the message from the Spirit. Some of us keep prayer journals for years, praying each day for loved ones who do not know Jesus as we do, planning and more planning for the wedding. And when it happens it is a wonderful thing, a glorious thing, and all the planning coupled with the great mystery of God’s timing and the movement of His Spirit in the heart of the unbeliever and BANG!, there is a wedding bride and groom, Church and Christ. Then comes the marriage…

If we gave the same amount of time to the long marriage as we do the short wedding would their walk be deeper? Would your walk be deeper? Are we cultivating our relationship with God? Are we treating our spiritual marriage the same way we sometimes do a physical one? We get comfortable, we start to know each others routines and rhythms and soon we stop doing the little things… the prayers slow down, the devotions get shorter and shorter, we are reading verses quickly instead of whole chapters in God’s story.. Where has the relationship gone?

When it comes to bringing the saving gospel story to one who is yet to be connected with Jesus do we bring it as a gift and leave it at the doorstep, or do we stay with them side by side throughout the journey. Do we give them a fish to eat for that day, or do we teach them to fish to eat for a lifetime? Are we building disciples who build disciples or are we simply planning the wedding?