A Hard Decision

In January 1995, Michael Couillard and his two sons took a brief ski trip in Turkey, where Michael was stationed with the U.S. Air Force.  Near the end of the day, Michael and his youngest son, Matthew, decided to go for one more run down the mountain.  As they rode the lift up the mountain, a "white out" storm quickly came in.  By the time they got to the top of the lift, the two could not see the trail down.  Making a long story short, Michael Couillard and his son end up getting lost and are unable to find their way back to the resort.  In fact, they accidentally went down the exact opposite side of the mountain.

On the wrong side of the mountain, trapped in a 3-day snow storm, the two eventually found shelter in a cave.  Frostbite set in in the bitter cold.  The two had nothing to eat and had no survival gear with them.  It seemed as if their only hope would be to wait for rescue.  Eight days pass without any sign of a rescue team.  Finally, Michael was forced to make a hard decision.  He could stay in the safety of the shelter with his son, continue to meet his needs as best he could, and hope for a miracle to find them.  Or he could take action and leave his child behind to find the help they needed.

Michael took action.  After finally succeeding in climbing a slope near the cave, he spotted wooden shacks down on the other side of the mountain.  Though he had not eaten in over a week, he snapped on his skis and made the trek of over two miles.  When he arrived, he found the buildings empty and vacant.  Too weak to make it back up to the mountain where his son clung to life in the cold, Michael could do nothing but sleep.  Not long after he awoke the next day, Turkish lumberjacks found him.  Within hours, Michael and Matthew were receiving the medical care they needed.

The point: rescue would not have come to the Couillards unless Michael made the hard decision to leave the cave.  Though every part of him wanted to stay with his son to protect his offspring, he ventured down the mountain.  Michael almost lost his life, as did his son, but leaving the cave brought salvation, new life.

There is a growing sense in our country that the church is stuck in a cave.  In the not too distant past, the church was on a comfortable ride to the top of the mountain, enjoying privileged and influential positions in society and culture.  Suddenly, a blinding storm of cultural change made the path forward difficult to find.  To survive, the church has been forced to find shelter in the cave of comfort and safety.  Instead of skiing down the slopes in the great adventure God has in store for his people and this world, the church is stuck in survival mode.

My proposal is this - the church needs to leave the cave.  The people of God need to leave the building and the programs behind and need to set out down the mountain once again.  It is outside the cave, on the difficult journey up and down hills, in and out of woods--a journey that may cost the sacrifice of everything once held dear--where the church will again meet the world and salvation will come not only for the world, but also for the church.

This is the story of the church as I see it.  This blog is my venue to describe this story in greater detail, help others see the story as I see it, and share what it might look like for the church to leave the cave.  Stick around.  Keep reading.  Let me know what you think.  God has planted a huge passion in my heart to help the church recapture its missional nature, calling, and vocation.  I pray God uses this blog as one way to bring turn my passion into a reality in the world.