Respite often equals focus

Sometimes it is good to have a period of respite, time to clear the mind and focus the heart on what is really important.

I have heard Pastor Noel use this illustration quite often -
Imagine a beautiful painting - if you focused in on a 1 inch square of that painting it might look like nothing - it might look like everything - but by keeping our focus on the entire painting you gain perspective. God's work is like a painting - we need to keep our focus large - not small.

Small perspective leads to narrow mindedness - singleness of purpose, but not in a good way. We need to watch out for this, and stop this from happening whenever we can.

For example - singleness of purpose says we need to clean the house. Yes we should keep neat and tidy homes - but what good does that do if you never mow the lawn?

People aren't going to come into your clean house, if they have to beat their way through the weeds to get there.

True purpose - God purpose - says, don't neglect the house - but don't neglect the yard either – in fact don't neglect the neighborhood, the city, the state, the country.

Would you visit a house at night in a criminal neighborhood? In a very dangerous city? In a communist state? Of course not!

By the way - who enjoys a clean house? The people who live there? or the people who need to live there but can't get past the weeds to get in the front door?
So then the question becomes how do you "mow the lawn"? How do you fix up your neighborhood? How do you clean up your city?

Ministry - pockets of Christians (some might even call them small groups) OUTSIDE of the house.

Homeschool co-ops
Community health clinics
Community help centers (heartbeats, look-up center)
Connecting with other like minded churches to offer Community Seminars
Kid focused community activities (VBS and Upwards)
Volunteering in shelters or jails
Back to School supplies and Christmas toy drives
Food drives
Community friendly lessons - sharing skills (music lessons, ballet, karate)

Some people will read this and completely agree and some will read this and completely disagree -

Is that because one is right and one is wrong? NOPE!

Is it because one is holy and one is not? NOPE!

Is it because one or both are the much dreaded "trouble-maker" ? NOPE!

It is because we each, every member of the body of Christ, have a specific and usable gift, and we see purpose in using our gifts - we will identify areas where our gifts would be useful.
People who focus on serving the inside of the church might have a gift that speaks to them in that way - they use it to serve inside the church walls.
People who focus more on serving outside of the church probably have a gift that they see as being most effective in that arena.
The problem comes when everyone either starts trying to, or allows themselves to be confined to use their gift in the same place - either in or out. You wind up with many people who want to serve and can't find a place where they fit, or many people who are unhealthy in "defending" their territory (that they call ministry) You create rivalry and strife ( imagine too many cats stuffed in a box.)
How do you fix this?

Generally people find other likeminded people, through the direction of the Holy Spirit, and they start a Work that glorifies God (not men.) They stop playing the lethal political games and they follow the beat of the Drummer, the beat of the moving, growing, living Christ.

The other part of a Spiritual gift is that it is needed, God didn't accidentally give you a sense of purpose, if you fail to use your gift, for any reason - even when it seems your talents are not wanted or appreciated - you defy God, and you live in constant sin. If you refuse another believer the chance to use their gifts - (aka - defend your territory) you sin, and you cause them to sin as well.

Respite often equals focus.

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