criticize by creating

Had a refreshing time speaking with Adam, the student ministries and worship leader at Centrepoint church here in Edinburgh. Got to share about our story of coming to Edinburgh and the challenges of launching a church. They launched Centrepoint almost three years ago, so they're just ahead of Eikon and was a joy to share openly of the joys and difficulties of it all.

One of the things that stuck out was the quote I often share with others: "criticize by creating." Michelangelo was on to something when he coined that phrase almost 500 years ago.

I became cynical and complained about Christians and the Church for several years into my early twenties. Some of it was justified, some of it my own hypocrisy. I wasn't doing anything about it though. It really wasn't until the call to help start a church in Edinburgh that I finally sensed the challenge to act.

When you do finally act, many fall into the trap of defining themselves for all the things they are not, rather than what they are. That's a cyclical mindset, that's easy. It's much harder but much more healthy and productive to actually talk about who you or your organization are going to be and how that will be accomplished.

Bottom line; take your complaining and do something about it.