What It Really Looks Like!

Today I had the privilege of being reminded what a true church looks like!

It was at the Mooresville Skate Park in downtown Mooresville and it was a dream of a young man who has been a part of Williamson's West since it's "birth" on Sept. 12, Aram Lumley, and his sidekicks Lance and Joycelyn Armstrong.

The event was "Mission Skate" and young men and women came and brought either food or money for Mooresville Christian Mission's Poverty Awareness and in return entered into a skate competition.

Valerie Chamberlain, the Executive Director of Mooresville Christian Mission, came to share a brief few words about MCM and some folks from Williamson's West were there to show support to Aram, Lance, and the skaters, and a few kind EMS workers hung out "just in case!"

Valerie and I stood and talked about how cool it was to see how awareness and food could be raised for the mission by skateboarding with a lot of young people. I was just happy that there were lots of skaters there, probably between 25 - 30, and all seemed to be having a good time.

Then Valerie said something that still rings in my ears.

"You know, it is really great that West is supporting this. This will make a difference with a different group of people entirely. There's a lot of churches that would want NOTHING to do with anything like this. It would be perceived as wrong."

I looked around at all the people inside that skate park. There was a significant ratio of ink:skin, some interesting and cool belts semi-holding up jeans, and a lot of smiles and looks of contentment as a group of people sharing a commonality had fun.

Were there things that could have been perceived as "wrong" . . . I guess . . . but my comment to Valerie was, "this is what I think it looks like when the church is really being the church." There were people there that had an awareness of a moral code and responsibility to care for one another, to love one another, and to make sure that those in need were being taken care of.

Then I said, "I bet if this were thousands of years ago . . ." and at the same time we said, "Jesus would have been on a skateboard."

And I believe he would have been. He would not have been hanging out with the religious people, he would have found "The people" and then found a way to connect with them in a way that was non-threatening and relevant to their culture and society.

It was so cool to watch a young man emerge as a leader in a new faith community. It reminded me why I love ministry so much . . . because it matters, it ALL matters.

It was an honor to hang out today for an hour and watch guys skate in a quest to get food for those in need. I'm excited to see how this and other components of West will grow and make a difference here in our community. Changing lives and changing the world . . . that's what it is all about!

MISSION SKATE!!!!