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We Didn't Start the Fire
In his book, It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It, Robert Fulghum tells the story of firefighters responding to a house fire where they rescued a man from his burning bed. The firefighters asked the man if he fell asleep when he was smoking and the man replied, “No. It was already on fire when I lay down on it.”
We crave to find that “juice,” that energy that propels us through life; and we crave to find the drive that propels our church to reach success—however we define it. “We need a revival to get people excited about coming to church again,” I often hear. Certainly, Pentecost reminds us of those times when God’s Spirit sets our hearts ablaze. But a church can be on fire for all the wrong reasons. We know they’re the wrong reasons, but we climb in that burning bed anyway.
One of the common themes I see among our churches is passion. But where that passion is placed, how it is manifested, and what we do with it might not always be a good thing,
Is our zeal to be the hands and feet of Christ, or is it to be recognized for being the hands and feet of Christ? Do we welcome ALL to the table—the communion table, the conversation table, the conference table, the cooking table, the decision table—or just those who share similar ideals and upbringings? Is our church filled with people worshiping in buildings, or worshiping the building? Have we converted sacred spaces and activities into our own sacred cows?
On that Day of Pentecost, God’s Holy and Liberating Spirit drove the freed, the followers of Christ, from being holed up in the comforts of their confines and drove them out in public, and gave them a public voice which chaffed the establishment. This is the blaze that will keep the Church alive. We didn’t start the fire. But we can keep it burning!
Associate Regional Minister Rev. David Woodard
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