Lean back and kick forward

It's great to learn from children. If you have ever watched a child in a swing on a playground you can understand a great deal about being the church. Leonard Sweet calls the swing his favorite metaphor for the church. As the body of Christ, the church must lean back - we rely upon the testimonies of the faithful saints who have gone before us. Their sacrifices and faithfulness provide us with a great foundation. But a church that only leans back will ultimately lose moementum. We must kick forward. The testimonies of the past grow stale when they are not renewed in the context of the present. Only then can we reach higher heights and experience the exhilaration of soaring in the power of God's presence.