I Think...

The older I get the more I seem to interact with people who only want "realism". Think "realistically" they say, "don't be silly" they say and my personal favorite, "that's just idealistic". As if idealism isn't worth striving for, if something is "ideal" shouldn't we want that? Isn't the "ideal" what we all are trying to live up to? Why is it that the "ideal" has become so worthless to us? Have we accepted a lie that says, "we can never be perfect so stop trying"? When did God say that we couldn't live perfectly? (here's a hint: he didn't.) And when did dreaming about making things better become a bad thing?

Let me give you some context.

I think that the youth in our churches can understand deep theological truths if we will take the time to teach them, and I don't think we have to play games during youth group to do it.

I think that Christians should take the words of Jesus seriously in the way they live their lives daily.

I think that God wants to change the world, not through the power of a well informed electorate but through the foolishness of people who trust him with everything they are.

These are overly simplified statements that on the surface don't usually bother many people. However, when I start to talk about the dreams I have for the church based on these ideas, I start to scare people. In their words, I become an "idealist", "unrealistic" and one friend has even called me crazy to my face.

I hear these sorts of comments most often when I begin talking about what I think the christian life should look like. Anytime I happen to mention that I think my God is opposed to people dying, that Christians should probably not be ok with killing people and especially when I say that it might be good for us to renounce all forms of violence (such as physical, verbal, emotional...), I consistently hear from others that I'm being "unrealistic". Well, maybe I am, but when did "realism" govern the God of...well, EVERYTHING. The same Christians who call me an "idealist" believe that God created the world from nothing and that Jesus resurrected from the dead. Like dead, dead. Oddly enough, I agree, but that is a pretty unreal situation right? I wonder what he could do with a group of people who completely surrender all personal control and rely on him to move; change the world? (There is something about that cross thing in here somewhere...)

If this is getting too confusing let me clarify; I'm not trying to tell you that I have all this figured out, I don't.

I think I'm trying to say that my God is big, and, I think, he has big dreams. My God is so creative, he chose weakness to display his power to save. (There's that cross thing again...)

I think, my God wants his kingdom to be full of "Idealists".

I think, my God wants us to dream so big we are afraid it might be a challenge for him just so he can succeed and be glorified all the more.

I think, my God wants us, his people, to love him and to love people more than we fear failure.

My God wants us to dream.

Now, if you've lost your ability to dream you need to watch this. I love this idea, its so ridiculous, so "unrealistic". What a crazy dream. But that's just a silly "youtuber" who thinks he is really popular, God doesn't work like that, does he? (I'd like to think that God wants to throw a giant pizza party for all of humanity...but I digress...)

A few months ago I preached a sermon from this chair:

This is my "dreaming chair". Well, its one of them. I have two of these chairs; one in my office and one in my room. Just like the nickname would suggest these are the chairs I sit in when things are too "real", when I need a break from reality and want to share some dream time with God. Mostly I use these chairs as a challenge, they remind me of some things.

They remind me that I shouldn't be satisfied with everything staying the same, that there are always things that can be moved forward and grown, and that's where dreaming comes in.

They also remind me that dreams don't need to be stressful, it doesn't matter how creative I get in my dreams, I guarantee that my God has already thought of it. If my dreams match with his heart for his kingdom then he will go before me. (That doesn't mean that its always easy) If they don't match there is nothing lost.

I don't want to dream up my own vision for the church, I'm dreaming in an attempt to find and understand God's heart for his people.

My chairs remind me that though dreaming might look and sound foolish, if it's God's foolishness I participate in I'll be just fine.

But, maybe I am an "unrealistic", "idealist" fool and dreaming isn't worth your time. I guess you have to decide what your God wants from you, and together we might just grasp some small part of what our God wants for us. Because, our dreams are worthless if they can't be shared by others.



For more videos from Olan Rogers check out: https://www.youtube.com/user/OlanRogers