I Have a Dream...

Many months ago, a friend recommended that I read "Pagan Christianity" by Frank Viola. A couple of weeks ago I thought I was ordering that book through Amazon or Ebay. What I got instead was "Reimagining Church" by the same author. This morning I began reading the book on a short flight to visit family, and I found myself stunned! I've only read one chapter, but I can already tell this book will be hard to put down. The author has put into words what I believe and strive to live out. One powerful section is a variation on the theme of Dr. Martin Luther King's legendary "I Have a Dream" speech. This is powerful stuff!

I have a dream that one day the church of Jesus Christ will rise up to her God-given calling and begin to live out the true meaning of her identity - which is, the very heartthrob of God Almighty - the fiancee of the King of all Kings.

I have a dream that Jesus Christ will one day be Head of His church again. Not in pious rhetoric, but in reality.

I have a dream that the clergy/laity divide will someday be an antique of church history, and the Lord Jesus Himself will replace the moss-laden system of human hierarchy that has usurped His authority among His people.

I have a dream that multitudes of God's people will no longer tolerate those man-made systems that have put them in religious bondage and under a pile of guilt, duty, condemnation, making them slaves to authoritarian systems and leaders.

I have a dream that the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ will be the focus, the mainstay, and the pursuit of every Christian and every church. And that God's dear people will no longer be obsessed with spiritual and religious things to the point of division. But that their obsession and pursuit would be a person - the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have a dream that countless churches will be transformed from high-powered business organizations into spiritual families - authentic Christ-centered communities - where members know one another intimately, love one another unconditionally, bleed for one another deeply, and rejoice with one another unfailingly.

I have a dream today...

Can't you just hear a Holy Ghost filled preacher shout these words from the pulpit with the passion and soaring oratory skill we heard from Dr. King? More importantly, is this the cry of your heart before God, and a burden you share with others? I pray that it is.