I have a dream where churches are serving the world around us… not with an eye toward ourselves, our own growth, our reputation, our benefit, but with an eye outward: disinterested service that expects nothing in return. I have a dream that the Body of Christ would use our gifts, talents, time, and money to serve as the hands and feet and voice of Jesus in the world—that we would go where we are needed, help those in need in practical ways, and speak up for the oppressed and the voiceless.
I have a dream where missional leaders are living incarnationally among the people, where everyone has someone to listen to them, to help them process, to help them delve deeper into discerning what God has for them. I have a dream for coaches, mentors, and other relational connections throughout the Body of Christ and beyond, where the ethos of really listening and asking good questions penetrates to the heart of every believer.
I have a dream about pastors and their teams processing through what it really means to live incarnationally, asking the hard questions and challenging the status quo. Believers praying and wrestling with the complexities of the deeper conversations that will help us live more like Jesus lived, resulting in whole churches getting it, whole networks getting it.
What if this vision were turned to reality? What if the stuff we’re struggling toward really happens? What would that look like? Food pantries, ministries to immigrants, prostitutes, prisoners, the dying… the people the rest of society neglects. It would look like mentors and coaches trained and ready to serve in an other-centered capacity. It would look like a church no longer on the defensive, crumbling while guarding our beliefs, but a church open to conversation, willing to engage in dialogue without fear. It would look like people listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit with a willingness to act on those promptings when they come.
What is your dream for the church?