I imagine many of you have heard of the term, "a mountain-top experience." It's one of those ideas that we often encounter peace, wisdom, or something else that enlightens our lives after we've journeyed to a place (literal or metaphorical) of solitude and refreshment.
Last weekend, several of our leaders at Living Waters had a mountain-top experience as our pastor, David, led a retreat on re-defining the vision for Living Waters. It was a great experience, and many of us recognized that our "new" vision is the same as the vision we've had along: to serve Christ at our church with a specific purpose. We don't want to do ministries just because we've always done them or because they worked for another church. We want to do them because God wants Living Waters to do them. This mountain top experience was an important step in reclaiming the God's vision for LWC after so many months of simply nursing our wounds.
In my bible study today, I realized for the first time that Peter, James, and John had a mountain-top experience, too. They were with Jesus at his Transfiguration-- a pretty significant moment (Luke 9:28-35). I'd expect that the experience would be life-affirming and life-changing for anyone. Yet, only a few verses later (Luke 9:40), a man tells Jesus,
"I begged your disciples to [heal my son] but they could not."
The disciples had seen a glimpse of Christ in all of his glory, but when it came time to fulfill their mission in his name, they failed.
These passages reminded me how easy it is to have clear vision and purpose on one day, but to fail when the challenges of life overtake us on another day.
I hope you will be praying for your Elders at Living Waters-- that the ideas and purpose God has given our church's leaders will be implemented and accepted by everyone, and that the Session's mountain-top experience won't stay on the mountain.
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