Summit Ministries

Ah, Sunday. Some of us went to church this morning. I decided to go the way of the heathen in this one instance, and slept in until 10:15. Much of Summit was spending their day either at King's Island or the Zoo. My roommate Ashley and I had opted to follow the Lord's example, and rest on the seventh day.

We wandered town in search of food, which was surprisingly difficult as most things were closed. But eventually we found ourselves out behind Mom and Dad's, digging into chocolate blizzards and discussing our experiences growing up in the church.

I can only speak for myself, but in these last few years church has seemed less and less a friendly, welcoming place. In fact, in recent months I had dropped out of attending Sunday School classes all together—and felt well nigh justified about it. I could be teaching those classes, for crying out! I certainly didn't need them.

Heh heh. The topic for the sole lecture that evening was—the Church. As JR Kerr spoke, I found myself agreeing with his points, but becoming increasingly discomfited, particularly with his statement that, "The Church needs the world."

I had the opportunity to speak with him afterwards (I love how at Summit the speakers are so accessible like that!). I agreed that ministering to the world was indeed intrinsic to God's purpose for the Church, but it took until later that night for me to figure out the source of my discomfort.

If the Church needs the world, then that means that I do too. What's more, that's probably a good indication that I need the Church, as well.

I didn't come to Summit expecting to be convicted, but today I was.