A few days ago I had a conversation with a friend who is also a network leader. I was telling her about the kind of work I’m going to be focusing on next—helping people return to the work of Jesus at a grassroots level, living missionally and incarnationally in the very real world that is around us. As I talked, she got excited. The vision resonated. That was that shared sense of, “Yes. That’s what we’re supposed to be about. That’s the right thing to do.”

In many ways, this conversation was similar with ones I’ve had with other ministry leaders. Most leaders can see it—in our heads we know it’s the right thing to do. Yet there’s a gap between the way it should be and the way it is, a gap between the gospel and how it’s expressed, a gap between the way we want to be living and the way we are.

The challenge is this: how to bridge that gap, how to move forward in practical ways. Most leaders can see what needs to be done; they just don’t know exactly how to get there.

If you’re one of those people in whom the vision resonates—if you feel that internal “Yes,” let me know. I am looking for others who passionately believe in living as Jesus wanted us to live. I’m asking God to lead me to those people who are serious about putting it into practice. We know it needs to be done. We see obstacles. Yet we must. Let’s stop our fretting and our paralysis. Let’s get up and walk together. That’s what I’m giving my life to…walking alongside others to help the church be the church.