“How you doing?”

“Busy. How ‘bout you?”

How many of your conversations start this way? Frankly, how many eDevotions that you get start with something like that? Somewhere in the next 400 words, I’m going to invite you to be something other than busy. But frankly, I’m too busy to figure out how. After all, it’s not fair to ask you to do something that I can’t figure out myself!

It’s fall. A few months of planning are coming together for some fun, life-giving, soul-widening opportunities. It’s gratifying, but it’s also… busy. And on top of all that, there is a persistent hum outside my office, so that even when I close my door, I can hear the construction and the “beep, beep, beep” of the heavy machinery winding its way around the new building.

In the middle of our busy, over the hum of construction and the beeping of machinery, we often hear the call to “stay grounded.” To “stay centered.” And that’s the best case. That’s at least a counter to all the voices telling us to “streamline,” “work harder,” “grind, grind, grind.”

Staying centered sounds great, but what happens when we aren’t sure where our center is? What happens when we know exactly where our center is, but we are just so far removed we can’t imagine making it all the way back? Don’t worry, you aren’t alone!

It would be easy for me to say that church is the center. And there is some truth to that. We find God in community and this fellowship of believers is strengthened whenever you come and share your story in words, or listening, or action, or presence. Church is a dependable place to come, to find rest, to be energized, and to share your burdens. All of this is holy.

But I’m not sure that church is the center.

I’ve been in Charlotte for nearly four years now. I still turn on my GPS nearly every time I make a trip. Often, I don’t know the best route or even have any idea how to get there, but I also want to avoid traffic even on my most familiar routes. My GPS helps me get there, but opening Google Maps and looking at the street view of my destination is not the same thing as actually navigating my way there.

One way to think about coming to church is that it’s a little bit like your GPS. Type “My Center” into the search bar and see what routes you can take. Coming to church will probably show you more than one way to get there. And all of us, together in church, learning from each other, is a little like the “traffic” function. We’ll hear someone say, “I wouldn’t go that way; it’s full of potholes and road repair.” No matter the route we take to our center, it’s nearly always the scenic route, and we will always wonder whether we need 4WD.

Where is your center? Finding that center is the journey of faith. The journey doesn’t end at church. The journey begins here. And we are on this journey together.