I'm In!

I have the chance tomorrow to teach a piece of our new members class, something I had the opportunity to do for the first time last month. I really enjoyed it, as it caused me to remember when I was in that place almost six years ago, and the journey on which God had brought me that led me to North Way. The picture that I used to explain it, like all great illustrations, actually had to do with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Now, if you've had the chance to read even a few postings on my blog, it's not hard to figure out that I'm a pretty passionate Steeler fan. Things were not always this way, however. While I think I became a Steeler fan by birth, I didn't really care to watch a football game if they weren't playing and if they weren't playing well, I didn't really follow at all. Something very strange started happening about three years ago, however.

Big Ben had just started into his rookie season and they were setting record after record and I found myself watching channel 180 (the NFL Network) a lot, and sitting down and watching football games even when the Steelers weren't playing. I didn't really care so much about other teams. I just knew that how they played would ultimately affect the Steelers, so I suddenly found myself watching, reading, and talking about football on a daily basis.

My ultimate point of commitment came as we entered the playoffs that year. I found myself at Dick's Sporting goods standing in front of a rack of jerseys, trying to decide if I should make the commitment to purchase one. Now, besides the fact that this one article of clothing was equivalent to three months of my clothing budget, I realized that if I purchased this jersey, it was going to be a big emotional investment for me. By putting on the shirt, I was saying that I was a Steelers fan through and through, for better or worse, and no matter where I went, everyone would know it.

Needless to say, I bought the shirt. #51. James Farrior. I'm a defense girl. :-)

When I graduated from college, I found myself "out on my own" in a lot of ways, making my own decisions and choices for the first time as a "real" adult. I absolutely loved the church that I grew up in and I loved the church that I started attending when I was in college and for a while, I thought it was great to go to both. The Holy Spirit really convicted me, however, about the importance of committing to a particular church body, to channel your money, energy, gifts and passions to one local church where He calls and to "join the team," so to speak. After a lot of prayer, I felt that God was leading me to jump into membership at North Way, and a crazy six months later, I found myself working there in student ministry.

As I learned this past football season, being a Steeler fan is not always ice cream and roses. The bumps that we took this year, however, did not change my commitment to my team and I'm still wearing my jersey whenever I can. I imagine that experience with any local church body is very similar. The Church is full of people, people who, unlike our Father, are not perfect. There are going to be problems and situations that are difficult and even painful. The answer to those sorts of situations, however is not to pull out of the Church completely, secluding oneself to a life of isolation and cynicism.

I believe the local church is God's instrument to share the gift of His salvation and grace with a world who needs Him. I pray that God would continue to expand the growth and influence of not just North Way, but His greater Church in Pittsburgh and beyond.