Come out of your tent...

We returned to our church, Common Ground, in Broad Ripple this Sunday and it was so refreshing and invigorating to be back. Since we've lived up in Zionsville we've only made it down there a few times and although we've tried to go to ZPC as much as possible, there's just something about Common Ground that we have grown to love. One analogy that the pastor, Jeff, used this Sunday struck me in particular and I think it's just too beautiful NOT to share. So, pardon me as I paraphrase, but here goes...

A good friend of mine goes hiking each year in the Grand Canyon. He says you can tell how many times the other people you see along the way have camped in the Canyon by how much stuff they bring along. Each year my friend says he brings less and less. You just learn that, although you think you need the stuff, it simply weighs you down and is often unnecessary. He now just brings a tarp in case it rains and he sleeps under the stars. His camping counterparts will almost always set up their tents as soon as they arrive at their camping site. My friend often urges them to join him under the stars. "No thanks," they usually reply, instead opting for the perceived comfort and safety of the inside of their tents. Undoubtedly though, someone will always join my friend for a night of sleeping under the stars. And they almost inevitably admit that it was an amazing night - the best of their trip by far. Yet the next night, it never fails that they return to the tent. They saw all the grandeur and beauty of the starlit night in the canyon, but they chose to go back to their tent.

Isn't it ironic that we so often opt for our tents? My friend tells the story of one morning waking up and seeing mountain lion tracks not far from where he lay his head. Scary, yes. But think about a tent. Are you truly protected? Yet we still choose our tents. So often we crawl back in and zip up our lives in the nice orderly way in which we created them. Perceived comfort. Perceived safety. But we are potentially missing out on so much more. "Come out of your tent," God cries to us. "I have so much more in store for you."

- Taken from a sermon given by Jeff K. at Common Ground Christian Church (www.cground.org)