I was away from the blog for a week while serving at the 2007 Mosaic Origins Conference in Pasadena, CA.  It was an amazing experience over all!  We had over 500 pastors and leaders out who are doing some pretty amazing things all over the world.  Literally over ¼ of the conference was from oversees.  It is beautiful what God is doing here in the United States and internationally as he continues to refine his church through much of the emerging movement.

I got to thinking about a few things while there.  These men are out making a huge impact on the world.  One guy I met actually trains native pastors in a closed country in Africa.  That isn’t the amazing part though.  He takes them into remote villages via boat.  When they arrive he kills all the man-eating alligators in their river that have been eating small children and livestock.  The villagers are so overwhelmed and grateful that they allow one of his young pastors to assimilate into their village and live among them.  Oh, and he also pastors an emerging church of 5,000!

I realized that if you are on mission with God, you have little time to sit and complain.  I mean, when you are actually making a difference in the world, you don’t need to constantly attack the “opposition”.  Very few of these men spend their time writing blogs about how useless the traditional church is… they are out living and teaching what they believe.  Their lives are their apologetics.

When I look at “ministers” like Ingrid and Ken Silva and Dwayna, I can’t help but ask the question, “what impact are they having on the world?”  None of them have effective ministries.  None of them seem to be having any impact on the lost.  So what exactly are they doing with all their time?

Well, rather than take the time to do the hard work that so many in the world are doing with God, they write criticisms.  They sit back and attack others while the workers are out gathering the harvest.  It’s almost like those kids on the playground who never could play baseball very week, so they sit in the bleachers and make fun of everyone out playing.  It’s one thing to be making an impact and having a critical eye (which is why I can somewhat respect what MacArthur has done… respect, but don’t agree).  However, when you are making no impact on the world and just sit and complain, your voice isn’t valid.

Let this be a reminder to all of us.  Always live a life that is actively changing the hearts of people, but just criticizing those around you.  I have said it before, and try to live by it.  Don’t simply shout at the darkness, but always light a candle.