April 11, 2013
David Hayward, the “Naked Pastor,” asks “Have you outgrown your container?”
You’ve probably had the experience of seeing a potted plant outgrow its container. The roots can’t find more space to extend, the stems and leaves are bending and drooping over the sides or getting twisted and tangled in their efforts to reach higher, searching for more room. The container is simply no longer suitable, it’s too confining and it’s time for something bigger that doesn’t hinder growth. In this post, David Hayward’s cartoon and commentary illustrate the inner conflict that persons may experience as the realization dawns that they have outgrown their “container.” Their church community, where they may have at one time found nurture and challenge, no longer allows them to grow, to ask different questions, to voice emerging doubts, to bring up new ideas and challenge older ones. They need to move on from their too-limiting container. And that’s okay says Hayward. He provides a link to his earlier posting of the same cartoon and suggests reading the responses it elicited.
