One of my jobs as a leader is to create environments that facilitate what it is that God wants to do in people’s lives. I’m an environmental engineer of sorts. We work hard at NCC to create environments where people can explore Christianity in a safe and creative environment. And we care about details like the brightness of lights and volume of sound. We care about the video quality and graphic creativity. Those may seem like ancillary issues, but they aren’t. Aesthetics are important. Did you know that 12 chapters in the book of Exodus are devoted to the aesthetics of the tabernacle? If aesthetics aren’t important then why is God so meticulous in picking the colors of the curtains or the recipe for the incense.

If the Holy Spirit doesn’t show up all of our aesthetic efforts are a waste of time. But that doesn’t excuse us. It’s not either/or. It’s both/and. We’ve got to create environments that remove distractions. We’ve got to create environments that cultivate creativity. We’ve got to do our part and then let God do His part.

We have a simple goal at NCC: remove all sociological and methodological obstacles that would get in the way of people getting to the cross. We recognize that the Holy Spirit is the one who draws people to Jesus. But we need to stay out of the way instead of getting in the way. I’m afraid that sometimes people are offended by our methodologies and we don’t give them a chance to be offended by the cross.