A Canoe or a Kayak?

Welcome to the float trip which is my stream of thoughts...

I have been floating and fishing the Ozark streams of Missouri for years. For most of that time I've used an aluminum canoe. Specifically, it is a 15 foot Grumman. (I don't own much that's top of the line, but this is.) Ten years ago I'd have said that a canoe is the only way stay in the mainstream of a river, to get to the best fishing spots, and to enjoy the pristine beauty of southern Missouri. Lately, though, I've been thinking about getting a kayak. Kayaks are leaner and lighter; it would be much easier to load on top of my Rav4. They maneuver better in tighter river turns and deep water gradients. Kayaks displace less water, so the vessel drags less in shallow sections. A kayak could really upgrade my experience of rivers.

However, I've floated in my good old Grumman so long that I don't hardly know any other way to navigate a stream. Yet my original purpose was never to stay in an aluminum canoe all my life. My core purpose has always been to experience Ozark rivers, to fish, and to stay in the river's mainstream. I won't necessarily abandon the Grumman completely. But I am saving my shekels for a Kayak.

I am a Jesus-follower mostly because of history. Throughout the ebbs and flows of human events and cultures, the risen Jesus always finds a way to grab the hearts of human beings. Along the way, though, many of us confuse the vessels in which we happen to travel in our experience of Jesus with Jesus himself. Nothing matters to me more than to help people encounter the one called Jesus and to grow in relationship with him. In these days of seismic cultural, economic, and political change, I look at my church and every church and I wonder where are we hanging on to old aluminum canoes only, and where do we need to start experimenting with kayaks. Where are we confusing the forms through which we address the purpose of the Body of Christ with that purpose itself?

What do you think, whether you are a Jesus follower or not? As you observe churches, what needs to be kept and what needs to be released to keep us in the Jesus mainstream? In case you don't know, there's a lot of opportunity for conversation on a river canoe float, and I welcome your thoughts.

I'll see you around the river bend.

Geoff