Now what can I paint?

Our church facility consists of a metal building, built in 2000, connected to an old cinderblock building, the original "church." The old building, which contains our fellowship hall, nursery, sunday school rooms, and former-sanctuary-now-turned-kids-church, was in need of some paint.

Good-bye white. Hello ash grey. Only after we bought the paint did someone explain that any color with the word "ash" in it will have a tint of green. Oh well. It's still an improvement.

After over 100 hours of painting efforts and holding on to our ladders in the Oklahoma wind there is still some finishing up to do. I don't mind. It already feels like an enormous accomplishment. It feels like the most productive thing I've had my hand in as a pastor. I can see before my very eyes progress, change, and newness.

I've heard it said that pastors don't often get the feeling of accomplishment. Our job is never done. Change is slow and often invisible. As a sheet metal apprentice during college I could produce things with machinery and clever tools. Now, producing anything other than a sermon feels elusive.

And what have those weekly sermons accomplished?

This is where faith comes in, again. By faith, though I cannot see the good I'm doing, I know God is doing good through me. By faith, though painting the old church is a good thing, I know preaching is more vital than painting. By faith, though I wish I could grow my church with clever tools, I know God is the one who makes things grow. By faith I know that my labor in the Lord is not in vain (I Cor. 15:58).

In the meantime, what can I paint next?