echoes of redemption

It isn’t easy to change a reputation. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter which study you choose to look at today, you’ll find the Church’s reputation in America isn’t great.

So what would it take to change that? Maybe it starts with the Church becoming obsessed with beauty.

Taken by the beauty of its own diversity.

Of course this would require a lot of sacrifice. Pet theologies would need to go. Narrow views of what a church service looks like would have to be gone. But after the dust clears, what if every church looked at every other church and saw beauty? Saw that different ways of worshipping and viewing God aren’t just the way things are, they are they way God designed them to be.

Captivated by the beauty in the world.

Could it be that the church’s job isn’t to bring God to a place, but to go to that place and point out what God is already doing? And if that’s so, maybe there is beauty woven in to every part of the Earth. And maybe the Church’s job is to love that beauty. To find that beauty. And to point that beauty out to everyone they can find.

Consumed with unleashing the beauty within every person.

Maybe the idea of Jesus in your heart has been so overused we forget the power of the metaphor. If the God of the universe – in all his infinite beauty – has come to reside inside of someone, it should be the church’s job to unleash that beauty from within those people. Can you picture the world bathed in the beauty of God as it overflows from his people?

What if the church was obsessed with beauty?

You used to dream.

There were big ideas of what you would do in life. Massive problems in the world you could fix. Huge steps you could take that would make a difference for the future.

Then life set in.

And what was once a future-orriented mind got derailed onto the new path of survival. Bills to pay. A house to keep clean. Television to watch. Apps to download.

Before you knew it, you had dismissed your dreams as idealistic youth.

But  what if that’s why so much in the world needs to be changed?

What if realizing your dream is the plan God has to fix the problem you see no one else taking care of?

What if you brought every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ? What could he do with your dreams?

You used to dream. And if you can recapture that, you just might change the world.

I never wanted to be content because I was afraid it would make me complacent.

In my mind the two were the same. To enjoy where you were risked losing your edge for the future. And I wasn’t willing to do that. Not willing to settle.

So I spent years discontent.

Frustrated about where I was. Spending on credit cards. Driving faster than the speed limit. Yelling at red lights. Giving disappointed looks to people who weren’t as “aggressive” as me.

And all that got me nowhere. (And required a lot of repentance.)

But contentment and complacency are really two different things. Because you can be totally driven by the future and miss all the joy of the present.

I heard a pastor who is starting a church say:

I want to absolutely love the time I’m having with God on this journey.

And I got inspired. Because who doesn’t want that to be their journey too?

The world needs change – and God will use you to bring it – so don’t lose sight of the dreams he’s put in your life. I don’t believe you can outrun God. But I do think you can be so focused on the destination that you miss the thrill of the journey.

So while you travel, pour into people. Love what you’re doing. Embrace the joy of the journey.