Permission Granted

by Rev. Mark Tidsworth, Team Leader

I’m right between coaching groups today, listening to pastors describe how they and their people are struggling. We imagined turning the page on 2020 would give us a fresh start, yet it feels like someone added about ten more miles to the marathon we were running. All of us who are God’s church are closely acquainted with the stresses and strains of living during a protracted pandemic; this state of chronic stress.

So, right here between coaching groups, I find myself wishing I could give permission to everyone of us who are the church. Permission to:

• Practice Sabbath. God started the practice, modeling Sabbath at the beginning of all things, highly recommending (see ten commandments) that we follow suit.

• Practice grace. Everyone is stressed, resulting in lowered patience and increased resentment. This is the time to generously give grace to others and ourselves.

• Practice simplicity. Rather than walking around with this false guilt over what we think we should be doing when we can’t, let it go. Identify what’s essential to being church…a short list of 4 or 5 actions. Then let the rest go. Gaining this kind of clarity regarding what it means to be church will also help us when this is over.

There you have it – permission granted. Obviously, this was there in our faith all along, recognizing God always prepares God’s Church for the living of our days. May God bless you as you discover what it means to be disciples of Jesus who are church together, even when it involves permission to practice Sabbath, grace, and simplicity.