Pizza and Champagne

It was a laid-back night for our group. Everybody just brought pizza, plus some fruit and salad, which I think cancels out the bad effects of the pizza. Then I noticed the bottle of champagne. With pizza? I was told there was going to be a special announcement, that we had reason to celebrate. It was apparently champagne-worthy, so I was more than a little curious. As we gathered around in the kitchen, the attention quickly focused on one particular couple in our group. The wife then said she wouldn't be having champagne tonight, and said there would soon be a new arrival in our group. It was a great setup: they weren't having a baby, they had bought a new home.

Buying a home was certainly reason to celebrate, but it was the explanation after the announcement that really made it special. This couple had chosen the location of their house and the layout of the house and yard to maximize their new home's ministry potential. They wanted to make sure they lived in a neighborhood that the Springs could effectively serve, and that their house was a useful tool for developing neighborhood life and hosting families at their table. They weren't just making a financial investment or positioning their children to attend certain schools; they weren't merely trying to streamline their commutes (although these things are also important). They were positioning themselves for ministry, to be used by God.

I could not help but think back only one year ago when Elizabeth and I and the boys did the same thing. We believed strongly at the time that living in a neighborhood in the middle of the Springs' scope of ministry was important, and God seemed to have showed us just the right house. It took more than a small miracle for the move to happen at all. God made all the pieces fall into place. One year later, God is opening doors for us to build relationships in our neighborhood and serve people there in a way I could not have imagined. It was no coincidence to me that on this day, when our table was celebrating a family positioning itself for ministry, several families from our street had been in our church service that morning, a high school student who lives a few houses down had played drums in the band, and at least two families from our neighborhood had attended our church for the first time. I can't wait to see how God uses another house in our community as a ministry base.

Why do you live where you live? Because you got a good interest rate? Because it's all you could afford, or because you got a really good deal? Because the schools are good and crime is low? Is it just a stopover on the way to the next place? At least a few of these are probably true. But if you don't believe you live where you live because God wants you in that exact spot to make a difference in people's lives, you're missing the point. Paul said in Acts 17:26-27, "He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that people would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us." We are where we are for God's purposes, and we're either aware of it or we're not. I'd rather be aware, and not miss God's purpose. I don't want to have to discover one day that God placed me in a particular location to meet a particular need, and I missed it.

You don't have to relocate to live with God's purposes in mind. Sometimes, NOT moving is the thing. If you knew God had you in a certain place for a reason, would you stay even if it meant passing on a pay increase or missing an opportunity for your dream house? Are you willing to stay in one place long enough for meaningful relationships to happen?

Sometimes living in a place with ministry in mind may mean downsizing. If you've bought more house than you can afford, your house is as much an obstacle to ministry as a useful tool for it. If you can't afford to be at home much, what's the point in having the house?

As I'm writing this post, I can see my neighborhood. We live on the end of the street, and I can see all the way down the street from my study window. It's raining today, so no one's outside. But I see houses with people inside whom I've come to know and care about, and I desire God's best for them. I believe God gave my family this house for that purpose. Every time ladies meet in our living room for coffee and Bible study, every time families share a meal with us at our table, kids play in the house, or I have a conversation with a neighbor about his or her spiritual life, God reminds me of why I'm here. Last night I toasted with champagne in a red plastic cup with a family who, maybe a year or so from now, will be saying the same thing about their house and their neighbors. God did this for both of our families--and yours too--so that people would seek him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each of us.