Start Your Engines!

One of the things I like most about our three mile walks each morning is talking.  Sure it's great to get the exercise that comes from a brisk three mile hike early in the morning, but being able to visit while we walk makes the time go by faster and it gives us the time to communicate about things we might not make time for during the day.  This morning, we were talking about our decision to keep our two older vehicles just a little longer.  Part of our rationale comes from pure "sticker shock."  A new vehicle cost more now than the first houses we looked at buying - back in the Dark Ages of course. The other reason for our decision is simply a matter of priorities.  We'd rather spend money on other things that mean more to us than a shiny new car and the huge car payment that goes with it.  Anyway, our talk was really about all the things we may need to do to keep our cars reliable and dependable.  Especially Donna's twelve year old Saturn.  She loves it, and it still gets 35 mpg, but many of the parts in the engine are getting old and in need of replacement before they go out.  We were talking about replacing generators, alternators, and Universal belts - just to be on the safe side - especially when she wants to drive it to Nashville or Searcy.
Few things amaze me more than today's car engines.  Every time I look at my tachometer, as I'm driving on a trip, and think of all those pieces of metal moving together at 2500 to 3000 rpms, mile after mile and hour after hour, pulling thousands of pounds of vehicle, people, and stuff down the road it just seems incredible.  All those pieces and parts working together at such a high rate of speed and endurance to get me to my destination.  Wow.  It makes me think of the last sentence in that great passage from Paul about the church existing to mature people in Christ.  He said, "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does it's work." (Eph.4:11-16)
The church is like a the motor of a car.  When each part is working properly, it gets the job done!  When leaders do their job of equipping the members, the members grow in  unity and faith, and begin to mature in Christ.  When that happens, they stop being babies deceived by men or Satan's tricks, and they all grow up into a deeper relationship with Jesus, who holds the whole thing together.
If a church family isn't growing, one of the parts is not working properly.  It's either the equippers, or the ones equipped, and if I understand what Paul is saying, it takes ALL parts working to bring about growth and love.
I guess you could blame it on running out of gas, but that's a different analogy for a different blog.