My pastor at Flood is pretty good at sending out weekly email updates. (Or I guess Lindsey does!) The email I received from him (them) this morning I found particularly interesting, seeing as it applies to the comforts of suburban living AND most Christians today:
“Have you ever had a pet fish?
In Pixar’s Finding Nemo, a clown-fish (who’s not funny) loses his son, Nemo (spoiler alert). As it turns out, Nemo had been captured and sold to a dentist for his collection. The aquarium was filled with all kinds of fish that all longed to swim freely in the ocean once again. It wasn’t that the aquarium was bad, after all, they had everything they needed: food, water, a circulation pump, decoration, and even toys. But there was one catch: they weren’t made for this artificial environment–they were made for the open sea, as dangerous as it may be.In many ways our churches will default to a fish bowl type of artificial environment if we are not intentional about our purpose. This is because we often mistake suburban values of comfort, convenience, and security as invitations from God–the very opposite of the adventure we are called to, as witnessed in the New Testament.…Nemo is Latin for “no man”. When we desert our true home and forget our purpose, we also lose our identity as God’s image bearers in a world in desperate need to be found.”– Pastor Matt Hammett
I spent much of college learning first-hand about this particular concept. I resonate with this because I have felt conflicted all my life of wanting to “settle” but yet not feeling that was what I have been placed here for. I have constantly felt out-of-place when I am located somewhere for too long, and that my purpose is to move on and see how God wants to use me next. If I remain stagnant physically, I see myself stagnate emotionally and spiritually. It’s a philosophy I have followed all my life (and been accused of being a ‘”people pleaser” in doing so): Always improve yourself, and always push forward.