Outwardly Focused Dream 

 

I am gripped by a reoccurring outwardly focused dream that gives me hope for the future, passion for the present, and a strong sense that God’s smile is upon me every time I share this dream with others. I hope the Holy Spirit will use it to start a brush fire in your mind, which spreads to your heart, and eventually becomes a raging fire that consumes your faith community.

 

I have a dream for faith communities everywhere from the inner city to the burbs, from the emerging church to the mega-church, from the denominational church to the contemporary church, and all the way out to the small country church where the faithful few gather every week in Jesus name.

 

I have a dream that someday faith communities would awaken to the reality that the greatest missionary force the world has ever seen walks in and out of it’s doors every week and the best mission’s money ever spent would go towards equipping God’s people to be moment by moment missionaries in their Monday thru Saturday world.

 

I have a dream that someday faith communities would balance their budgets by spending more money on going and being the church than they do on themselves.

 

I have a dream that someday faith communities would lay aside their doctrinal differences and team up together in outwardly focused endeavors to reach out to a hurting and broken world.

 

I have a dream that someday God’s people would no longer confuse acceptance with endorsement and instead build bridges of inclusiveness across the us versus them divide by freely and humbly confessing the sins of our community to those who have been driven away by those sins.

 

I have a dream that someday faith communities would stop sending the world this message from the kingdom of man “if you behave and believe like we do you can belong to our Christian club” and start sending this message from the Kingdom of God “You can belong before you believe because we know when Christ becomes your root, He will take care of your fruit.”

 

I have a dream that someday we would be known more by what we are for than what we are against and our kindness would eclipse our “rightness”.

 

I have a dream that someday people of faith would quit getting angry with sinners who act like sinners and instead learn how to befriend the not-yet Christians in their life.

 

I have a dream that someday sowers and harvesters would forever renounce offering the world an either or proposition and join together to bring the whole gospel to the whole person.

 

I have a dream that Christ followers everywhere would learn how to naturally increase the quality and quantity of their spiritual conversations because I'm convinced the Kingdom of God advances one "aha" at a time. 

 

This is my reoccurring outwardly focused dream. What would your world look like tomorrow, if you and your faith community embraced this outwardly focused dream today? I hope you’ll find my books, this website, and the Lifetree Café helpful as you seek to turn this dream into reality.