“We’re at 12^th andJefferson.” 

This was my description of Four Rivers’ Paducah campus to someone who was interested in attending. 

And as soon as the words left my mouth I immediately despised what I had just said. 

My issue wasn’t with the truth of my words. There is a building, parking spaces, and offices at that address. There’s even a sign by the road saying “FourRiversChurch.” 

My problem lay more in the spirit of what I was telling her rather than the accuracy. It was sterile, unfulfilling, and static. I hated how that came across.

A church is a group of Christ-followers who ideally follow the movement of Christ. So the natural image of a church should be a portrait of Christ’s example rather than just a point on a map. And a movement isn’t described by an address–it’s described by its action. 

So maybe a better answer to the question “Where is Four Rivers?” would have been any or all of the following: 

We’re at the Community Kitchen feeding the hungry.
We’re at the Community Closet clothing the naked.
We’re at Barbeque On The River literally serving the community.
We’re at the Calvert City park hiding Easter Eggs for local kids.
We’re in Eddyville planting a new movement.
We’re in different homes on any given day learning about God and each other.
We’re providing water at events like the Iron Mom Marathon and Bikes on Broadway.
We’re anywhere we can build relationship between ourselves, our community, and God.
If you’d like to join us you can find out more at one of our weekly gatherings.

You see, this is more than just a matter of semantics–it’s about identity of mission. It’s about being a movement instead of just following a tradition. As Christ-followers we must constantly question and be curious about what new thing God is doing next. Because that is the direction in which we must move with compassion, acceptance and truth in tow.

To quote Blaise Pascal:

Our nature lies in movement, complete calm is death.

Live The Mission,
Greg