If you build it

OK, I had to eat my words this weekend.

In the movie "Field of Dreams" the main character is given a revelation and the assurance,

"If you build it (a baseball field), they will come."

He builds it, and they come.
One of my "mantras" in mobilizing people to launch a church as been, "If you build it, they won't necessarily come." We have this wish that if we believe in something wonderful, if we put our work and effort into building it, the people around us will almost magically come streaming forth to see what we've done. What amazes me to see the amount of time, effort and resources people will put forth into something they believe in.
But many times people have built a church, but the people haven't come.
In the midst of building "it" people can forget the most important part- simply inviting people to the dream.

"If you invite them, they will come."

If you invite them, if you love them, if you bring them along, if you share the vision- they won't just come, they will connect. We will invite people because we have something to build. We will build because we have invited people along. We will have the balance of both- but it starts with the invitation. It the easiest part of the the dream, and it's the hardest part of the dream. But it's where we begin building.

But I did find one exception- when you build a trampoline, the neighborhood kids will come, even if they aren't invited (but we would have invited them anyways).