An amazing perk of one's church being a block from the ocean is this - perspective. From inside my office I have glimpses of life beyond the church walls, but every so often I need to get outside. Whatever the challenges, they seem much bigger inside than outside.
Think about the comparison between being a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond. What is the pond in which we feel most comfortable? The one where we can circle the perimeter often, where we know where everything is, every nook and cranny? Or the one we can't see across, where if we are out in the middle we might lose our sense of direction entirely?
I think most of us are not entirely comfortable with the sense that we might get lost. So even though the small pond has some drawbacks, it can be quite appealing. But the ocean! A vast expanse of possibility! Things still undiscovered!
Standing on this outcropping, I had the sense we are being (pushed? drawn?) to the edge and invited to take a leap into the wild blue. The closer you get to the edge, the scarier it looks, and the more you want to back up and find something to hold on to.
But staying inside the walls, or confined to the pond we know and love, limits our growth. We can only see what we can see. Let's go outside. Let's take the leap and risk getting lost, knowing we'll find something amazing - we just can't yet imagine what it is.