People complain that getting things done in churches takes forever. Maybe nobody complains about this more than me. Well, maybe I should say, “nobody is more aware of this than me,” because I can be the cause of the delays sometimes. Sometimes I am scared of the unknown. Sometimes I can’t figure it out. Sometimes I am opposed to the idea. Sometimes there’s just no money for it – the reasons why things take a long time are many. But the reality is still the same – change can be painfully slow in the church.

        Because of this reality, I laughed, genuinely laughed when I read an article recently about the Sawgrass Expressway. Now, my introduction to the Sawgrass Expressway came through a writer from the Maimi Herald by the name of Dave Barry. He wrote a weekly humor column that justified the purchase price of the newspaper on Sundays. And one Sunday in 1988 he wrote about this new highway–the “Sawgrass Expressway”–that he said nobody in South Florida knew where it went or why it was built. He asked that some tourists drive up it and come back and report on what they found.

         If somebody had indeed reported back then, they would have said it goes way to the North, then bends to the East, and ends up on a road called 10^th Street. Back in 1986 when they finished this project, there was nothing there. It just ended on this street. If a local had driven that scouting expedition, they would have wondered why they didn’t have it end at I-95. Many have wondered about that ever since.

          Fast forward exactly 40 years from the road’s completion, and the newspaper now reports on the plans the State has to extend the Sawgrass to I-95. Finally! They have the plans done and have been sharing them with the public. The article said that the Extension is for three miles. It said the cost would be 1.3 billion dollars, yes, billion dollars. That it costs $433 million to pave a mile didn’t make me laugh. As the article ticked off different details, it was the date of  completion that caught me off guard. They plan to start this year, and they estimate (which you know they will not succeed at) to be done in 2032. I read that and went “What, 2032?!  That’s six years! Six years for three miles?!”  The Sawgrass is currently 23 miles long. They started building it in 1984. At the rate the Extension will take to build, they would still be working on the original Sawgrass today! I suddenly didn’t feel so bad about the pace of things at the church.

           Sometimes we need approval to do things from our Leadership Council, which meets once a month. Sometimes we need approval from a Charge Conference which usually meets only once a year. Sometimes we argue about stuff. Sometimes we have to raise money to accomplish whatever the idea is. There can be many reasons why things take a long time in the church, not all of them involve the pastor! But regardless, I felt it comforting to know that the government can work even slower, and that so can business. That call to be patient is for all of us in the church, and I suppose for the government too!

Scared to drive on 10^th Street now,

Craig

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.  Romans 8:25 (NIV)