I think everyone would claim that they are joining in God’s work. Since God has never signed her name in front of a notary (that I’m aware of), or put out a list of the projects already in the works, it’s a bit arbitrary to say one project is and another is not “what God is already doing.”

If I were the organization receiving your accusation I would just say “But this is what God is doing. Where do you get the idea that it isn’t?” Thus not-yet-middle-aged me slaps God’s name on my project, and who are you to say if it’s mine or God’s? You might claim God’s activity is somewhere else, but how are we to tell the difference? Do we just argue back and forth about who is joining God and who is asking God to join them? It sounds to me like you might be proposing some more specific criteria?

You said, “I keep hearing the sentence, ‘looking for what God is already doing rather than asking God to bless what we are doing,’ but I never see anyone flesh that out. What does it actually mean or look like?”

What I meant is that I am convinced God is up to a whole lot of things outside of the blessing or impact of the church. I’m sure you’ve heard people pray that God would bless whatever their ministry is in their prayers. What I want to emphasize is that there is a whole lot that God is already up to and the church is not there with God often times.

You also stated, “Where do you look for ‘what god is already doing’ - and does this mean that god will never do anything new?”

Where do we look? Well, for starters, the poor and the marginalized. Wherever they are God is certainly up to something interesting in their midst that your church has no clue about. Jump in and discover where the kingdom is unfolding.

As far as doing anything new, on the contrary, I’m convinced that our Creator is always up to new things. It is often us, within the church, that have compartmentalized God into the structures we feel comfortable with; neglecting to look beyond the christian ghetto.

Lastly, you wrote, “How do you propose we distinguish between god and some middle-aged guy with a very cool idea?”

Honestly, I’m not certain I understand what you are attempting to imply. Maybe you could help me with that. Hope this helps.

Cheers,

J

Thanks especially for the summary of the young adult panel, Tim. I was sorry to miss that.

One question from your summary of Jason Evans: I keep hearing the sentence, “looking for what God is already doing rather than asking God to bless what we are doing,” but I never see anyone flesh that out. What does it actually mean or look like? Where do you look for “what god is already doing” - and does this mean that god will never do anything new? How do you propose we distinguish between god and some middle-aged guy with a very cool idea?

Or, in one question: It sounds so nice, but how do you find this phrase actually helpful in practice and application?