I am a sucker for a good animated story.  Such is the case with the Dr. Seuss classic, The Lorax.  The 2012 film by the same name got me thinking about some important stuff.  Dr. Seuss claims that “unless a person cares to make a change, and cares an awful lot; no change is possible, it’s not.”  Ted was that person in the story.  I want to be that person in God’s kingdom.

As the cast was singing, Let it Grow, I was getting a little emotional (which is weird, I know, it is an animated story, they are not real).  I couldn’t help thinking about our little church and the study of Acts that we are currently in.  I am so committed to the power and potential of Christ’s church being found in the gospel, and that it is spread person to person, face to face, relationship to relationship.  I wondered if it is possible for a church in the mega-technical town of Murrieta to experience the raw power of the gospel without the trappings of mega-success.

Ever since the time of my call to Oak Springs from Pastor Doug (2002), I have believed that God has called us to be a faithful mission outpost, emphasizing what takes place outside the church meeting as our true spiritual worship, reaching the people in our lives with the positive and life transforming truth of God’s love through Jesus the Christ as revealed in His Word.  Whether it resulted in greater church attendance or not made little difference to me, because warehousing people was not the priority of my call, but reaching people with the love of Christ is… well, our business.

Thneedville, in The Lorax, represents for me, the mega-technical towns we live in.  All the things we need neatly packaged and sold to us in bundles of convenience.  Is it possible that our spiritual wellness has been so neatly packaged that we have missed the relational messiness of the true faith, I wonder?  Or is it too difficult to change the institutional nature of what the church has become, so why even try?  The Once-ler, a character in Dr. Seuss’ story that recalls the trappings of success with regret, inspires the young Ted to plant a truffula seed in Thneedville, to restore the hope of a better world, one with trees!

How do we move forward, against the trends of mega-church popularity and remain faithful to the call of God on our lives to reach people with the life transforming truth of the gospel?  For me, it means being faithful to our call and finding our place in the mega-technical world, and trusting God for the results.  Some have perceived my stance as being anti-growth.  And I have pondered the accusation with some agonizing self searching.  And I think that is why I got so emotional when the cast sang the song “Let it Grow” in The Lorax.  They were saying to Ted, plant the seed, let the Truffula seed take root and grow… it is the life that the mega-technical town of Thneedville needed.

I care about the growth of Christ’s church here in Murrieta, I care an awful lot… for without the gospel as found in God’s Word, change is not possible, it’s not!

For His glory,

Pastor Mike