Under Construction

PASTOR, THE VILLAGE CHURCH

Jean and I were in Beijing in 2007. Yes, that Beijing!

I was presenting papers at a professional conference, and then we were visiting friends who were doing ministry in the north of China, in Shenyang. It was a memorable trip.

It was the year before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing—one of China’s “coming out parties” at which they wanted to showcase their entrance into the larger economic world after having been hidden behind the cloak of Chinese Communist secrecy for so long.

The joke at the time was that the new Chinese national bird was the crane. Jean and I were being driven through a portion of Beijing and on one occasion I counted 25 cranes— construction cranes. Just within the view of our taxi! It seemed that everything was under construction: a major push by the government to build not only the facilities for the Olympics, but housing for the visitors and impressive office buildings to showcase all are a work in progress; we are under construction. So God would live in us by His Spirit!” their emerging business interests. In those days, it was impossible to escape a construction project.

Shell Point is about to embark on a significant construction project on The Island. Modest, certainly, by comparison to the Chinese explosion! But for those of us who either live or work on The Island, it will be inescapable.

It’s all driven by a vision—a vision to keep Shell Point as the premier continuous care retirement community in the nation. A vision that Shell Point continues to be known for its exceptional quality. And a vision consistent with the mission of Shell Point—the service of God and the care of His people. A vision to make this community a satisfying place, not just for us, but for future residents as well. But it occurs to me that we are construction projects ourselves. If we are believers in Jesus, and if we are still here on this planet, we believe God is still working on us, still building us into the vision, the image, of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, according to the apostle Paul, we are “being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2.22)

God’s dwelling! Imagine that. Just think how much work that entails! We all are a work in progress; we are under construction. So God would live in us by His Spirit!

And that construction project is not always easy. God usually must do some demolition before He does the finish work on us. May God grant us patience with one another as we go through the physical renovations on The Island, just as He has patience with us in our even more significant eternal renovation.

In the end, it’s all for His glory.