My Turn Now

Christ laid the foundation for the Church. Centered on the cross and joined (clicked) with Christ, our cornerstone, we are the living stones held together by the mortar of faith. Few passages capture this better than Peter’s first letter:

“As you come to him, the living Stone… you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house… But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…” (1 Peter 2:4–6, 9)

Chuck Colson once wrote that our primary witness is made by “the people of God being the people of God, living in biblical fidelity in obedience to Christ’s commands.” That is the definition of the Church: not just individual growth, but the maturing of a community shaped by Christ.

Living Stones, Not Lone Stones

Peter’s language is plural. Every “you” means “you all.” Spiritual maturity is not just for pastors or “super Christians.” It is a shared calling for the whole Church. Christ is the cornerstone, the first stone laid, setting the direction and alignment for everything. We are the stones being shaped to fit Him.

Peter’s word for “stone” is lithos, which is different frompetra (a large rock) or petros (a small stone). Lithos means a stone cut and prepared for building. As believers, God shapes us from rough rock into purposeful stone, forming us into the image of Christ. God is the builder, Jesus is the foundation, and we are the building blocks of His spiritual house.

The Church is not a building. It is not fixed or limited by location. It is dynamic, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people called to proclaim His praises. Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship to be lived and shared. We cannot grow alone. Faith is the mortar that connects us.

Four Marks of a Living Stone

Peter gives four characteristics of those who belong to Christ:

1. A chosen people, held in the mystery of both divine calling and human response.

2. A royal priesthood, where every believer is called to ministry and service.

3. A holy nation, citizens of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

4. His own special people, not by chance but by God’s design.

These truths are not abstract. I saw them lived out in a small church in central Illinois.

Dan and Gayle: Living Stones in a Living Church

During college, after drifting from my childhood faith, I found myself challenged to go back to church. At Champaign First Church of the Nazarene, two people embodied what it meant to be living stones: Dan and Gayle Wilkinson.

Dan was a gentle giant with a full beard, a forgiven past, and a love for motorcycles. In riding leathers, he looked intimidating, but his soft voice, kind eyes, and love for the lost revealed his deep relationship with Christ. He counseled at the church, and I spent many hours in his home and office learning by experience to grow in grace.

Gayle, working on her doctorate in Education, taught our Sunday school class. She was patient and wise. Whether helping Dan grout tile or sitting under Gayle’s teaching, God used both of them to shape me.

One moment with Gayle changed me.

A Gift I Couldn’t Repay

At the church’s graduation reception, where I was the only graduate that year, they handed me a Bible and a thick envelope. Inside was nearly $500 from a congregation of fewer than 100 middle-class people. I felt overwhelmed and undeserving.

Gayle put her arm around me and said, “The church loves you.” I told her I could never repay them. She smiled and said:

“Someday you’ll be able to do this for someone else. And when you do, you’ll be paying us back.”

I didn’t fully understand her words until later.

My Turn Now

After graduate school, I was choosing between two job offers in Los Angeles: my dream job at Hughes Space and Communications, and another at TRW. While driving through my hometown, Steven Curtis Chapman’s new song My Turn Now came on the radio. As the chorus played, Gayle’s words came back to me.

God had used that small church to be Christ to me. Now it was my turn to be Christ to someone else.

In that moment, God gave me peace to choose TRW over Hughes. That decision would lead me to my wife, to New Life Church, and to the Laotian boys I grew to love. God had already chosen the field where He wanted me to serve.

A Final Visit and a Final Challenge

Years later, I visited Dan and Gayle in St. Louis. Dan was still counseling, and Gayle was a professor at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. We spent an evening shooting pool and talking about ministry. I had no idea that two years later, at age 47, Dan would be gone.

During his 46 years, Dan led 46 people to Christ. I was one of them.

Now it’s your turn.

Is anything stopping you? Do you feel unqualified? Too much baggage? No story to tell?

You’re wrong on all three counts.

Be a Dan Wilkinson. Be a living stone. Be part of the spiritual house God is building.

A Quiet Invitation

Christ is calling you, not to comfort but to obedience. Not to isolation but to community. Not to passivity but to purpose.

Maybe it’s time to get up from the chair. To leave the warmth of the campfire and the safety of the tents. To step onto the trail and follow Jesus down the path He’s already walking ahead of you.

It’s your turn now.

In His Fields, Jon