dreams

i have to be honest and say that i am guilty of something. it is something that i think all of us do at some point in our lives, if we are a part of some great movement of revolution. choosing to place my faith in christ and join this revolution of love is the best decision that i have ever made, but, on the other side, falling so in love with my dreams that i began to leave christ out of the equation is the worst decision that i could have ever made.

jonathan wilson-hartgrove said, "it is very east to fall in love with the great things, whether we are revolutionaries or church strategists. but we must never fall in love with our vision or five-year plan. we must never fall in love with the 'revolution' or 'movement'. we can easily become so genuinely driven by our vision for church growth, community or social justice that we forget the little things, like caring for those among us."

it is a dangerous thing to fall in love with the dream and let it eclipse the love you have for christ. we all have our dreams and aspirations, but, as followers of christ, we must aknowledge that it was christ who gave us those dreams to begin with. it is east to let your heart slip away from what is most important. it is easy to love your dreams of building that homeless shelter so much that you neglect the homeless you pass by every day. it is easy to love your dreams of going to another country to love and teach the gospel so much that you forget that you are to do it right now where you are. it is easy to fall in love with the revolution.

dietrich bonhoeffer points out in his book Life Together that it is the one who loves his dream of communty that destroys it, and it is the one who loves those around them, here and now, that realizes that dream and brings it about. you see, it is when the dream becomes the object of our love and devotion, leaving christ out of the picture, that we are actually destroying the dream that means so much us.

i understand that we must begin to work and look towards that dream here and now, but it is here and now that we must begin to live and realize that very same dream. it is where we are right now that we must begin to live out that dream that christ has given us. we must make the dream real and tangible, and remember that it is because of christ are seeking to make these dreams a reality.

i am guilty of this, and i'm not proud of it. my love for my dreams eclisped the soul reason for my dream. i hate that i let it happen, but i'm grateful to have realized it now.

let us keep our christ-given dreams, christ-centered.

let us realize that it is by live out our dreams here and now that we realize our dream, and by loving it that we destroy it.

let us love christ more than the dreams he has given us...