‘The snowball of grace and gratitude’ grows in abundance the more we roll it. Following last Sunday’s Echo of Love, I am rolling the snowball once more in hope that someone else will take this snowball and roll it again, so it becomes a more plentiful snowball of grace and gratitude.
The ‘Inconvenient Convenience Store’ is a best-selling novel in Korea. The story depicts the convenience store owner who puts his employees’ interest before his own. And this kind of creates an ‘uncomfortable situation’ for customers; he lacks money to buy inventories because he wants to pay his employees well. He also does not mind hiring homeless people. However in this inconvenient convenience store, warmth and healing begin to grow that is rarely seen in this world. I found the novel meaningful and enjoyable because the inconvenient convenience store resembles Mokjang in many ways. The fact that so many people have enjoyed this novel suggests that they too want to visit such an inconvenient convenience store.
Along with Mokjang(house church), the inconvenient convenience store is also like a joint congregation in our church. When the English and Korean speaking congregations, the older and new generations, and the believers and non-believers are all combined together, it is bound to produce inconvenience. However, if we overcome such inconveniences and are able to make such a community happen, others too will want to come and experience it.
The language barriers and culture differences experienced at the recent family retreat resembles the ‘inconvenient convenience store’ as well. As I said in last week’s echo of love, God accomplishes so much in us through these difficulties. The values God builds within us through these inconveniences are truly precious.
God is shaping our identity upon our weaknesses. I do not know what direction our church should head in, or how God will lead our church in the future. However, I am sure of one thing— that we should focus our eyes on what God wants to accomplish through us at this moment. I hope that we would become a congregation where we lay our eyes not on the inconvenience itself but on the values that this inconvenience is accomplishing throughout our lives.
(To be continued...)
Following the Shepherd,
Pastor JiWon Choi