I believe

that the Lord still speaks to people. Most of the time, I

find that He speaks through His Word, through other

people, through circumstances, and even (on rare

occasions) through sermons. Recently, I discovered anew

that He also speaks in the most mundane, routine,

thankless tasks.

Our church recently

purchased nearly 12 acres of land for the placement of a

future church building. In the meantime, we are meeting

in borrowed facilities, saving our money, and making our

plans. There is a house on this new land that, while not

suitable for a Sunday worship service, may have valuable

uses for other purposes.

In any event, we are doing

a fair amount of work renovating this house. We have had

two work days with people from our congregation swarming

over the property like ants doing whatever needs to be

done. During our last work day, I was given the

assignment of painting the trim in one of the bedrooms.

I was alone in the room

and, for an hour and a half, put the headphones on,

listened to worship tapes, and painted.

Do you know how boring it

is to paint the trim? It seemed, to me, that painfully

little progress was being made in the room and that this

simple assignment was taking forever! In addition, I knew

that, when I had finished the task of painting the trim,

I would have to do it all over again, as a second coat

would be required. There is very little excitement in

painting the trim.

After an hour and a half, I

stretched, took a diet cola break, and walked through the

house. I was surprised and impressed by the significant

progress that had been made in the other rooms of the

house as others faithfully did their part. As I returned

to the room to resume painting, the lesson came:

"Like this house, life is a work in progress."

I believe that one of the

faults of the evangelical church is the assumption that,

if one only can acquire enough knowledge, then growth,

success, and progress will automatically come.

Evangelicals love sermons, teaching tapes, books,

seminars, and seminaries. The main requirement for a

pastor in the evangelical church is that he have the

ability to teach and preach. Every pastor has a favorite

knockout "trial sermon" with which to impress

pulpit committees and wow the seeking congregation.

Pentecostals and

charismatics, on the other hand tend to be addicted to

the "quick fix." They like to cast it out, lay

hands on it, heal it, deliver it, and claim it all before

the end of the current worship service.

Pentecostals and

charismatics (PCs) often have a disturbing tendency to

wander like nomads from church to church and meeting to

meeting to discover where the current spiritual

"fix" may be administered. There is also a

pattern among many PCs to seek out men and women who

appear to have a special anointing (often related to

loudness, energy and sweat) to pray and "make it

so." If you aren't healed right now, today, this

very moment, then the fault must lie with you.

Liturgical churches, for

their part, often focus on doing their spiritual and

social duty. Mainline denominations often believe that

life will be better if the "systems" can be

changed.

Several years ago,

"liberation theology" captured the minds of

many as whole denominations funded revolutionary

movements. Liturgical churches have been actively

involved in the abolition of slavery, child labor law

reform, prison reform, the civil rights movement, women's

rights, and other causes, some of which (like

"homosexual rights" and aggressive

environmentalism) are downright repugnant to evangelicals

and PCs.

Evangelicals can preach,

charismatics get excited, and liturgical believers build

magnificent buildings, conduct beautiful worship

services, work for justice, and help the poor. Not that

there is anything wrong with preaching, prayer, or

consistent social action. But, at the end of the day,

life, like the renovation of a house, is a work in

progress. It takes work and it requires consistency.

There are lessons about

life than can be learned from the renovation of a house.

Some of the nuggets of knowledge that came throughout the

day, during the painting of the trim, included the

following:

- Before a renovation

can take place, a "tearing out" process must

begin. Old carpet, old drapes, a wall here and there....

Like the house, God sometimes allows our life to be

ripped apart prior to a rebuilding project.

- The change occurs

both instantly and over a of period of time.

- The work always

takes longer than you thought it would.

- People you thought

would come and help you don't.... People you didn't know

were interested will come along beside you and lend their

assistance.

- Things you thought

you couldn't do you will learn to do.

- Someone will always

criticize your best efforts.

- If you make a mess

of things, you will usually have an opportunity to make

it right.

- More is happening

around you than you can see at the time.

- There is always more

trash than you thought there was ... and it always takes

more effort to get rid of the trash than you thought it

would.

- Others will help you

if you swallow your pride and ask them.

- If you do the small

things well, eventually the big picture will take care of

itself.

- Don't worry about

what others are or are not doing. Just do the task you

have been assigned.

- You must always keep

the long view in mind or the mundane things will

overwhelm you.

- You don't have to

get everything done in one day.

- Some things are in

pretty good shape while other things need a great deal of

attention.

- Unless you totally

waste your day, progress is being made continually.

- Over time, the

change is dramatic.

- You will never

really be finished. There is always going to be more work

to do.

- There is great

satisfaction in finishing what your started.

So, there you have it.

There isn't one sermon, one laying on of hands, or one

social project that will make everything perfect. Life is

a restoration project. It is a work in progress.

[Father David Epps is a

priest and founding pastor at Christ the King Church. He

may be contacted at [email protected] or at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com ]