I'm a "to-do" list kind of guy.
When my wife sends me to the store to pick up a few things, my first question is "Is the list updated?" The list is in a shared note on the phone, with little check boxes beside each item, with enough description so I know exactly what I'm getting and there is little confusion. I know that when I walk out, I have what I need and it's done. Check.
Having a variety of tasks and projects to accomplish each week at church with the Communications Team, I often approach each week the same way. I have a task management system. Projects come in, boards, projects and tasks are created, each task gets a date. When those projects and tasks come up, they get done and checked off the list. I know at the end of the week that what needed to get done got done. Check.
Creating is easy. It's clean. I made it. It's finished. I can move on to whatever is next. Check.
Cultivating is hard. It's messy. It needs constant attention. It can be frustrating. I have to keep coming back to it.
Sunday, Pastor Shawn shared that "unity is not something we create, it's something we cultivate. It's something we've been given, in Christ, and we are to care for it and maintain it." Our job is to maintain it, care for it, protect it, encourage it and spend time on it, so that we can keep it.
Unity can't be a to-do. It's something that is always in process... always being done... but never done completely. That can be difficult for those of us who are wired like me. Realize today, this is a process and not a destination... a garden and not a to-do list.
-Jim Clark (SOCC's Chief-to-do-list Doer)