Dream On!
"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or another of these destinations." -C.S. Lewis
Today as I was once again reading through the book "The Jesus I Never Knew", I was struck by an idea that I found both inspirational and challenging. It all centers around the idea of dreams, and as I have already shared my dream with you in a previous blog, I'll spare you the details. Anyways, I want you to go through an exercise here with me for a second. I want you to think of the top five most influencial people in history. There's the obvious Sunday school answer of Jesus, but who else? Abraham Lincoln? Martin Luther King Jr.? Pope John Paul II? Napoleon Bonaparte? Napoleon Dynamite? While all of these people have had undeniable impacts on history, it is not their lives that has inspired me of late.
No, the people that have inspired me are much less noble. The men that I am talking about were everyday men, and by no means saints. They were at times hot-tempered, and not afraid to lash out with the sword. They were proud men, and quarrelled about who among them was the greatest. They were relatively uneducated, and were slow learners at that. When things turned ugly, they were quick to desert their closest friend, hardly the type of people that our society chooses to honor. Yet these eleven men were some of the most influencial men in the entire history of the world, next to Jesus. If you haven't figured it out yet, I am talking about the eleven disciples of Jesus (discounting Judas Iscariot). These men, ordinary and imperfect as they were, continue to exert tremendous influence even today, 2000 years after they walked the earth. It is upon the shoulders of these men that the church was formed. Without their eye witness accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and their willingness to preach the gospel, I would assume that there would be no church, as we would never know of God's ultimate sacrifice. If God can use these few men, inspite of all their faults, to shape the world as we know it, how much more can he use us, should we choose to let Him live and work through us?
I believe that everyone has a God-given dream, whether they realize it or not. For some, they may be earth-shattering; for others, it may simply be being a witness to that one co-worker. But the point is, God has plans for everybody's lives, and His plans are generally much larger than we can foresee or comprehend. Jesus himself says, "Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12) Yet as I examine the modern church here in North America, there appears to be a major inconsistency between the words of Jesus and how we live our lives. When somebody seizes their God-given dreams and makes a significant impact in the world, why is it that we view them as being "super-Christians", as if somehow their own effort and perseverence has got them to where they are today? I believe that if you were to ask people like Billy Graham and Mother Theresa, they would bluntly tell you that on their own, they can do nothing, and that only by allowing God to work through their lives were they able to realize and fulfill their greatest dreams. What is stopping the other 98% of us from having a significant impact for the Kingdom (I am not saying that God has world changing plans for everyone in store, but He definitely has plans for everyone. I merely mean that we should choose to live in such a way that we can maximize our full potential in Christ).
If you were to glance up and down your church pews on a Sunday morning, how many people would you see who are just going through the motions of Christianity, forsaking any dreams that they may of once had, but for whatever reason chose not to pursue? I am not trying to come down hard on the church, but what would your city, province, country, or even world look like if even half of us chose to pursue our God-given dreams? The prospect just blows my mind! We may feel unworthy to accomplish our dreams, but just look at what God accomplished through a ragtag bunch of fishermen! I believe that the key is to surrender control of our lives, and to instead rely on God's prompting and prodding. Some people may abandon their dreams because they feel that only by pursuing the world's standard of success can they find contentment. The fact is, there is nothing more discontenting than that of an unfulfilled dream, and the fact is, God will provide for those who choose to follow him whole-heartedly. If I have convicted any of you, then good! But hopefully I have instead encouraged you not to lose sight of your God-given dreams, be they great or small, and that in time they will change from dreams to reality. Not everyone can change the world, but everyone can change the part of the world in which they live, work, play, etc. So in the words of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, "Dream on!".
Today as I was once again reading through the book "The Jesus I Never Knew", I was struck by an idea that I found both inspirational and challenging. It all centers around the idea of dreams, and as I have already shared my dream with you in a previous blog, I'll spare you the details. Anyways, I want you to go through an exercise here with me for a second. I want you to think of the top five most influencial people in history. There's the obvious Sunday school answer of Jesus, but who else? Abraham Lincoln? Martin Luther King Jr.? Pope John Paul II? Napoleon Bonaparte? Napoleon Dynamite? While all of these people have had undeniable impacts on history, it is not their lives that has inspired me of late.
No, the people that have inspired me are much less noble. The men that I am talking about were everyday men, and by no means saints. They were at times hot-tempered, and not afraid to lash out with the sword. They were proud men, and quarrelled about who among them was the greatest. They were relatively uneducated, and were slow learners at that. When things turned ugly, they were quick to desert their closest friend, hardly the type of people that our society chooses to honor. Yet these eleven men were some of the most influencial men in the entire history of the world, next to Jesus. If you haven't figured it out yet, I am talking about the eleven disciples of Jesus (discounting Judas Iscariot). These men, ordinary and imperfect as they were, continue to exert tremendous influence even today, 2000 years after they walked the earth. It is upon the shoulders of these men that the church was formed. Without their eye witness accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and their willingness to preach the gospel, I would assume that there would be no church, as we would never know of God's ultimate sacrifice. If God can use these few men, inspite of all their faults, to shape the world as we know it, how much more can he use us, should we choose to let Him live and work through us?
I believe that everyone has a God-given dream, whether they realize it or not. For some, they may be earth-shattering; for others, it may simply be being a witness to that one co-worker. But the point is, God has plans for everybody's lives, and His plans are generally much larger than we can foresee or comprehend. Jesus himself says, "Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12) Yet as I examine the modern church here in North America, there appears to be a major inconsistency between the words of Jesus and how we live our lives. When somebody seizes their God-given dreams and makes a significant impact in the world, why is it that we view them as being "super-Christians", as if somehow their own effort and perseverence has got them to where they are today? I believe that if you were to ask people like Billy Graham and Mother Theresa, they would bluntly tell you that on their own, they can do nothing, and that only by allowing God to work through their lives were they able to realize and fulfill their greatest dreams. What is stopping the other 98% of us from having a significant impact for the Kingdom (I am not saying that God has world changing plans for everyone in store, but He definitely has plans for everyone. I merely mean that we should choose to live in such a way that we can maximize our full potential in Christ).
If you were to glance up and down your church pews on a Sunday morning, how many people would you see who are just going through the motions of Christianity, forsaking any dreams that they may of once had, but for whatever reason chose not to pursue? I am not trying to come down hard on the church, but what would your city, province, country, or even world look like if even half of us chose to pursue our God-given dreams? The prospect just blows my mind! We may feel unworthy to accomplish our dreams, but just look at what God accomplished through a ragtag bunch of fishermen! I believe that the key is to surrender control of our lives, and to instead rely on God's prompting and prodding. Some people may abandon their dreams because they feel that only by pursuing the world's standard of success can they find contentment. The fact is, there is nothing more discontenting than that of an unfulfilled dream, and the fact is, God will provide for those who choose to follow him whole-heartedly. If I have convicted any of you, then good! But hopefully I have instead encouraged you not to lose sight of your God-given dreams, be they great or small, and that in time they will change from dreams to reality. Not everyone can change the world, but everyone can change the part of the world in which they live, work, play, etc. So in the words of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, "Dream on!".
posted by Bassmaster Fehr @ 10:53 p.m.
2 Comments:
At March 05, 2006 5:52 a.m.,
Andrew and Tyler's European Peregrination said…
Nailed it Tyler J. Fehr!!! I couldn't agree with you anymore. I know that if the Christian community would just rise up and grap hold of all that God has given them the world would never be the same! Great blog! Keep writing!
At March 05, 2006 3:40 p.m.,
Bassmaster Fehr said…
If it helps any, there were women who followed Jesus. It was they, not the disciples, who were the last at the cross, and who in the end buried Jesus' body. They were also the first at the empty tomb. At the time, women were pretty much second rate citizens, yet Jesus broke all kinds of rules when he showed them kindness and compassion. So you see, its not all about us men!
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