“My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…” Galatians 4:19

Over a dozen of God’s kids took several months to plan, choose, order, figure and labor over placing a lighted cross on the new building. The timing, in my experience, was rather quick… since ‘Church’ is a place where individualism is NOT to be applauded. Teamwork had finally gotten the job done, and all that was needed was to look at the finished project. Last night at dusk, Katie and I drove over to take a look.

Being a ‘Congregational Church’ means things usually take longer than normal to get accomplished. Which is OK… since we are operating with Eternity on our side. When we arrived at the Church, both of us gave the “OHHHHHH” gasp of approval. We parked, then walked out to the road to set in the grass and stare at it. Then… my wife started asking questions.

“Do you think it’s big enough? Is the color the prettiest one we could display? Do you think it will get brighter the darker it gets? Do you think people will notice” In retrospect… they were not only good questions for the cross…they also reflected questions about how our Church folks appears to the people in our collective world.

The goal of God is that “Christ be formed” in His children. No person who calls themselves a Christian is independent. We are called to become 100% DE-pendant on Christ for our decisions, directions, power and actions. It is a long and tedious process that is NEVER over. Being in ANY form of ministry is to keep that goal in mind in as we teach His kids to shine for brighter Him.

As I thought about it, setting in the grass getting nipped at by mosquitoes, the measuring guide for a successful Christian Life really is the cross. A symbol of the horrific suffering and death of our Savior on our behalf, becomes a continual gauge of how well we are shining for Him. Are we big, pretty, bright and noticeable enough to those around us? That is a question EACH of us must ask…together.