It may not be the best thing to base your theology on a kid's movie.  I assure, I'm not.  However, its easy to see God throughout His creation and the stories we tell, like Toy Story, or in this case Toy Story 2.  

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

At the conclusion of TS2 - that's some insider lingo...Stinky Pete's mission to get the Round Up Gang to the Toy Museum in Japan is ruined as Buzz, Ham, Rex, Slinky and Potato Head rescue our pal Woody and new friends Jessie and Bullseye from their upcoming trans-Pacific flight.  Pete's view on being a toy was largely informed by the fact that he was never purchased or played with.  Rather, it seems from my speculation based upon dozen of time watching this movie with Fin, Pete was simply found and has been defined as part of collection rather than part of a family.

His understanding of what it is to be a toy is all screwed up.  In a villainous diatribe at TS2's climax Pete, right before his ultimate downfall, cries out in a fit of rage: 

"You idiots, children destroy toys!"

Toys are designed to be played with.  My two year old son loves his toys.  He received a real Buzz Lightyear with all the bells and whistles, and he plays with it everyday, but in his joy, he's broken an element that controls the wings.  Fin doesn't care though, but for some reason, for some time, I was disappointed it was broken.  Now this once perfect toy is incomplete, but to be honest my son plays with Buzz everyday and it brings him so much joy.  Why should I care if the wings won't pop out automatically?  Buzz is a killer toy and he fulfills his role by making my son's life full of fun and adventure.

I think sometimes I have been like Stinky Pete.  I keep inside my box, I try to avoid the annoyances of life like passion and pain in an attempt to stay pristine.  I think if we're honest, a lot of us do.  We live in our urban or suburban boxes, clustered and safe.  Like Pete we try so hard to live lie by our definitions.  For him it was a life within a box of cardboard and cellophane, away from the dirt and damage of kids.  For me, its in a box of drywall and windows, safe in my work.  But that's not my original intent.

Like Pete I was created, I was made and made with a purpose.  Not to live a safe life in a box of my own choosing, but a life of dirt and danger.  I was created to be fully alive in a world of incompletion and failure, of risk and disappointment, as well as a world of wonder and joy, of beauty and awe in order that I may bring joy for the one I was created for.  I won't get into the nuances of freewill and sovereignty here, but I know that my purpose was, is and will forever be to bring joy to God.  Its not always convenient or comfortable, however I know that unlike kids and their toys, God will not simply and flippantly destroy me, rather He enjoys when I live a life that people notice Him within my actions and words.

I guess as we are starting our new church I want to make sure that we're becoming a people that understand our original intent.  It's not to simply gather dust in a safe place away from the world around us, its to be mixed up in the toy box of life (sorry, I felt like I needed to throw that one in there).  Its to be in the world, to be alive in life where we experience God.  To be able to get dirty, and at times broken in fulfilling our role of bringing joy to our Father, Creator and Friend.

I don't want to be Stinky Pete.  I don't want to have a fundamental misunderstanding of my role in life.  I don't want to live in a box.

God, help us take the risk of living out our original intent.