Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a National Church Leaders conference in Dowling Park, FL. It was a great conference full of challenges that I took a lot from.
Throughout the conference we enjoyed an artist that came in and painted beautiful pictures during the general sessions and main seminars. The subject of these paintings were the topics the speakers were addressing.
During our breaks I had several conversations with other pastors and leaders about the paintings. Here are some of the statements I heard.
"What does that painting mean?"
"Just tell me what it means."
"What does he think it means?"
I found myself becoming somewhat irritated by some of these statements and questions. At first I couldn't explain why but then it hit me. Everyone seemed to what to be given the meaning that one person had rather than stretching their imaginations to interpret each painting.
I find myself in the same predicament sometimes as a pastor. At times people are merely satisfied with whatever the pastor thinks about God rather than seeking, searching, and experiencing God for themselves.
This is not a statement to lessen the role of pastor in the local church. However, if the pastor is always spoon feeding who HE knows God to be and people are not searching the scriptures for themselves then they are missing out on a lot of the adventure and experience of God in their own walk with Him.
So here is a simple exercise to try and get your imagination jump started this morning.
I John 4:8 tells us that "God is Love."
How many ways can you describe God's love?
Take a moment and write down as many things as you can.
Then take a break. Come back to it later and see if you can add anything.
Then ask a friend to do the same thing and compare notes.
I'd be very curious to see if God doesn't spark your imagination some.
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