Yesterday I began a series on dreaming great dreams. If you did not have a chance to read part 1 click here. Today I would like to focus on the great dreams we should be dreaming as Christians. When we talk about dreaming BIG in the church we typically focus on expanding our buildings, adding new programs and finding various ways to make our congregations known in the community. While all of these are good dreams, I’m not quite sure they are what I would call great dreams. It seems to me, before we focus on the things above, we should be focusing on more personal things. Let me give you a few of the great dreams I think we as Christians should be dreaming.
We should dream for Christians to allow God’s glory to be seen through their lives. Jesus told His disciples to let their lights shine before men so that God would be glorified in Heaven (Matt. 5:16). Think about Paul, he was a good man. After his conversion to Christianity he went about doing many good things. However, he wasn’t just good; Paul’s life magnified the glory of God. That’s what our lives should do as well. Every day we need to be seeking out opportunities to do good (Gal. 6:10). Don’t wait for opportunities to appear, go make opportunities happen. Let your life magnify the glory of God. Sadly, most Christians fail when it comes to this. Our lives aren’t much different than the lives of non-Christians. Our dream should be for Christians to allow God’s glory to be seen through their lives.
We should dream for Christians to start taking the Gospel seriously. Many of you are probably wondering what I mean by this. I’m afraid Christians in the USA have Americanized the Gospel into what we want it to be. We have taken the words of Jesus and twisted them to mean what we want them to mean. Let me give you an example. Take the rich man who approached Jesus asking what he must do to be saved (Mk. 10:17-23). Jesus told him, “You know the commandments: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother” (v.19). The man responded, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy” (v. 20). What Jesus said next must have rocked the man’s world. Jesus said, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (v. 21). What’s recorded next are some of the saddest words in all of scripture; “Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (v. 22). As Christians, we read this account and say, “Jesus was trying to teach the man about priorities. You got to get your priorities straight man.” My question is, “What if there is more to the words of Jesus? What if Jesus was serious?” Over and over I’m afraid we have taken the words of Jesus and made them into what we want them to say. Our dream should be for Christians to take the Gospel seriously.
We should dream for Christians to start seeking the Kingdom of God first. Just look around at the lives of so called Christians…one can see what’s important to them by the lifestyle they live. Jesus told His disciples, “But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). When I observe church attendance, church giving, church passion, efforts in discipleship making and biblical illiteracy, just to name a few, it’s pretty evident those of us who call ourselves Christians are not seeking God first in our lives. Our dream should be for Christians to start seeking the Kingdom of God first.
Tomorrow I will continue with a couple more of the great dreams Christians should be dreaming. I’d love to hear from you. What do you think Christians should be dreaming?