Why do we do this?

I wrote this back in February and never posted...

I don't know the number of times we have been asked why we plant churches. There are a number of pat answers that I have given over time. This past week it was brought home to me why we are drawn to this adventure.

A friend of mine who I have never met in real life, lost her daughter this week in a tragic car accident. This friend is suffering. This friend is also a believer. She is a mom that I connected with on the internet on a message board. Over six years ago we started a discussion about who Jesus is. We begin an email discussion of who God is and how does the role of religion play into our relationship with Jesus. At the time she had been on a varied role with many religions and hadn't found the answer. At the time I was a little short on "defending" my faith. In particular I was "over it". I actually stated that I was "done arguing with people (unbelievers) about whether Jesus was who he said he was". I figured that all the arguing did was frustrate me and not draw anyone closer to a belief in Christ. This sweet mom asked if she could email me some questions. I said of course but really wondered how I would have any answers for her. You see I had come to a place in my life were I couldn't explain my faith, but I knew that Jesus was who he said he was because of my experience in my life.

Through a series of email conversations and through her seeking,  this mom developed a relationship with the man Jesus. As she developed her relationship, her family saw a difference and they also developed a relationship with Jesus. This week her daughter died and through tears of mourning this mom emailed Tim and shared her thanks for our prayers and for pointing her to Christ because she knows her daughter had a relationship with Jesus.

This morning my devotional was on the demon possessed man. In Luke 8:39 Jesus tell the man to go back to his family and tell them what God had done for him. So the long answer of why we plant churches because God has done something in our life and we have to share it. People who are scared and scarred by religion still need to know Jesus. Maybe they are the ones desperate to know him.

So today I am reminded why we do this, Jesus has made me a better wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend. How could I not share that with someone?