Dream Big

Do you believe the stuff that comes out of your mouth?  I mean do you really?  We really throw out some zingers.  Some absurdities.  And frankly, I hate liars.  They drive me crazy.  Almost as crazy as Yankee or Cub fans.

What I really can't stand is when people in the church talk about growing, reaching out, evangelizing, wanting to be like a Paul or Peter Christian and then do nothing about it.  Doesn't that drive you a little ber-zerk as well?  

Peter and Paul, for example, were no liars.  When Peter said that "this promise [of salvation through the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus] is for you and your children and all who are far off," he believed it.  Not only that, he got to work demonstrating that this was the case.

When Paul declared that "ALL are sinners, yet [ALL are] justified through His grace," he set out to demonstrate this to people who needed to recognize God's work in the world and in their lives.

I guess what I am saying is that aside from believing in the salvation available to them in and through Jesus Christ, they both dreamed big.  Peter got the ball rolling by responding to God's call to go to Cornelius and then defend God's work in the Roman to the Jews.  Paul continued by declaring, in so many words, to the Romans that he would not stop until he had preached to everyone in the Northern half of the known world.  Their vision was HUGE, and it was so because their vision mirrored that of God's vision.

My church is making an effort to expand our vision this week.  Instead of huddling in service this week, we are breaking out of our walls in service of our community.  We are having "Don't Go To Church, Be the Church!" Sunday.  We are going to write letters to kids that came to our Back To School Bash telling them that we love and care for them, we are participating and raising funds for a Breast Cancer Walk, and we are parading around our town of Norwood cleaning up the parks.  We want to show, in tangible ways, that we love the people of Norwood because God loves the people of Norwood.

I am determined to not be a part of a church that lies.  We say we are Christian.  That is a huge statement.  We are like Christ.  We go where Christ goes, do what Christ does.  We act like Him.  We talk like Him.  We serve like Him.  These are the inherent truths that must be lived out when we cal ourselves Christian.  There is no getting around it.  This Sunday, we will be truth tellers.  We will be Christian. 

Can we continue to tell the truth to the world?