I Dream

I think about the church a lot. Some of it is constructive; some of it is destructive; here are some thoughts that I hope are instructive.

Dream with me.....

1. I dream of a church where Jesus-followers hold firm to the essentials of the Christian faith, but charitably disagree on non-essential matters.
2. I dream of a church that practices forgiveness.
3. I dream of a church that is free of gossip and slander.
4. I dream of a church that is generous with grace, truth, mercy, patience, kindness, and love.
5. I dream of a church that seeks first the Kingdom of God.
6. I dream of a church where pastors are first and foremost equippers of the saints.
7. I dream of a church where "missional" isn't a buzz word, but a gospel mandate.
8. I dream of a church that is passionate about social justice.
9. I dream of a church that has a global perspective.
10. I dream of a church where people are growing in their understanding of God’s Word.
11. I dream of a church where people understand that knowledge of Scripture isn't an end in itself, but a means to know God, love God, follow God, and love our neighbor as ourself.
12. I dream of a church that is gracious towards outsiders.
13. I dream of a church where people can be themselves, in all of their sin, brokenness, successes, and failures.
14. I dream of a church where No Perfect People Are Allowed.
15. I dream of a church where no one can go to, because everyone understands the church is the people not a place.
16. I dream of a church where people aren't hidden from the community in a building during all of their free time.
17. I dream of a church where people realize that the someone else who should be doing "x" just may well be "I".
18. I dream of a church where evangelism means being yourself.
19. I dream of a church where people know what they believe and why.
20. I dream of a church that practices Missional Apologetics.
21. I dream of a church where people are partners in the gospel, not members in a club.
22. I dream of a church that gathers in Third Places.
23. I dream of a church that serves and blesses its community.

I could keep dreaming out loud, but would rather stop and give you the opportunity to dream with me. What would you add?

Comments

[christy]

We need more people to dream this big! The only thing I would add is...to have a place where the Holy Spirit is allowed to move in the meeting and in each believer. I have been in way too many situations where this is contained. In fact, I heard a pastor make the comment to someone who felt led to offer thoughts during a time of open participation, "we need to wrap up what the Holy Spirit is doing" Now why would you want to do a thing like that?
Great thoughts, John. Keep dreaming!

[colin]

I like Christy's addition. Really the essence of what you are dreaming for, John, seems to be an unpacking of the two great commands: to love God and to love our neighbour. Number 11 mentions this in relation to our use of Scripture, but it definitely reaches much further than that. Another very worthwhile and thought-provoking posting. Thank you!

[Paul Walker]

Once again, an excellent post. I'd agree that adding one about the movement and flow of the Spirit is good - beyond that, I think You've covered pretty well everything :)

[Matt Wiebe]

I dream too much, but these are great ones.

I dream of a church where orthodoxy and orthopraxy are always complimenting one another.

[molly]

*drools all over keyboard*

[Shannon]

Excellent stuff John!
From a personal perspective, I would add these two.

I dream of a church where raw faith drives us to explore and discover the greatness of who God is.

I dream of a church that is more outward focused than inward focused.

Your posts always encourages me to think on things bigger than I might otherwise...thanks.

[blind beggar]

Can't say it much better than Molly did!

Just some additional thoughts:

I dream of a church that is a healing community where people carry each other's burdens and help restore gently.

I dream of a church that is desperately dependent on prayer.

I dream of a church that sees themselves as a community on a mission together.

And maybe to go along with #6, I dream of a church where the pastor is not a CEO.

[John Smulo]

Christy,

Great addition, thanks for your thoughts and encouragement.

[John Smulo]

Colin,

Thanks a lot. Yeah, loving God and our neighbor really does sum things up.

[John Smulo]

Paul,

Thanks for the feedback, and for linking to the post!

[John Smulo]

Matt,

Glad to find someone else who thinks too much about the church.

Really dig your addition.

[John Smulo]

Molls,

I didn't think I'd ever have welcomed drool so much :-)

Thanks my friend.

[John Smulo]

Shannon,

I really resonate with your additions. Thanks for adding those.

Glad I can be a thought-provoker for you. You have great thoughts waiting to be dreamt out :-)

[John Smulo]

Blind Beggar,

I really resonate with you additions as well. There's something about the church being a "healing community" that especially draws me in. I think that says a lot about what I need at this time in my life, but I'm sure many many others need the same. Actually, I'm sure everyone does at least a few times in life.

[Bec]

...having come off the back of a not so fantastic church into one that seems brilliant in comparison and then to have been there long enough to realise that things aren't always so perfect (they're not bad,) but people are still human...

I love these dreams and I think at my best I'd pretty much do anything to make them a reality (somehow, sometime... ) but in the meantime reality is what I can see and we are a long way getting there.

I certainly hope there are those of us out there doing our utmost to bring something of the sort about... where to start? How to get others to catch the flavor of this kind of church?

[John Smulo]

Bec,

Thanks for dropping by. I'm like you, I'd pretty much do anything to make this a reality.

I think it is so hard to turn many of these things into a reality. I think there's a blog post in exploring some thoughts on how to go from dream to reality that I might do.

But I'm not sure that my suggestions would be as helpful as I'd want them to be because there are some many variables to turning this into reality. And by variables, I mean people, and people are so unpredictable--no doubt myself included.

[Makeesha Fisher]

I love you man! This is why the internet and blogging in particular has been so powerful for me and my husband and our ministry endeavors - it has grown our dreams and allowed us to connect with other dreamers. This has in turn, fueled us and spurred us on and given us confirmation that the Spirit of the living God is stirring in his Church.

drooling right along with molly. I dream all those things and those that were added. So hey, those who dream of these things too, get going and make it a reality!

[Jody]

We are currently going through a teaching series at church called "We Have A Dream," and we talk a lot about what you write here.It's so exciting to grow together as a church and to contribute to our defining attributes. This way, we can work together to achieve goals and to encourage one another in our faith.
Great insights, everyone!

[John Smulo]

Mak,

Thank you, thank you, thank you :-)

It has meant a lot to me to get to know you and David more recently, and it's very encouraging to have other people on the same journey as me exploring these things.

[John Smulo]

Jody,

Thanks for sharing! That's great that your church is talking about similar things together. I think that's a great idea to have conversations like this in a local church.

[Steve]

I like your list!

And I would add the following...

I dream of a church that is wholly in love with Jesus Christ.

I dream of a church that is utterly smitten by Jesus and because of that they become the worlds greatest enthusiast for him.

I dream of a church that champions Jesus in all it does because they can't help it.

[John Smulo]

Steve,

Thanks for the additions, good stuff.

[Sally]

Wonderful John! This is my kind of church- and one I woudn't fear joining incase I wrecked it...

can I add a thought...

I dream of a church that listens, to the Spirits stirrings and promptins, to one another, and to the community/ context it is placed in.

and... oh I'm enjoying this now...

I dream of a church where questions of finance are secondary!

[John Smulo]

Sally,

Dreaming is good for the soul and bringing back hope.

Thanks for your additions, they're great.

[fernando]

John, you've inspired me to blog (writing currently) a list of my own - thank you for that.

For now, let me say that a church who could embody even half the things on that list would be an inspiration place to be participate in!