Imagine

This evening a live local news cast came in from Central Park. It was crowds of people gathered well after dark remembering the anniversary of John Lennon's death. In Central Park near the Upper West Side there is a place in the sidewalk with the word in stone: IMAGINE. It is an easy reference to make. At times, decades later, one may find flowers or candles sitting on the sidewalk where the word is inscribed simply -- Imagine.

'Imagine all the people, living for today.... Imagine all the people, living life in peace.... Imagine all the people, sharing all the world.... You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, I hope some day you'll join us, And the world will live as one.'

We know that John Lennon was part of the hippie peace movement, was a former member of the Beatles, and hung out with Hindu gurus. He asked his fans to imagine a world where peace and unity was normative and where violence no longer had a place. It was a voice of the world clearly a non-christian song by a pagan artist, but calling for a world not so distant from the prophetic vision described in the Bible where the wolf dwells with the lamb. There is a world beyond our church walls crying for a dream to be fulfilled.

Imagine. Imagine a church where the most integrated time of the week is 11:00AM on Sunday morning. Imagine a people who fulfill the role of priests everywhere they go & in everything they do. Imagine faith communities that pour their resources into Christ's mission to all the nations in the most crowded & diverse cities on the globe. Imagine leaders with a prophetic voice for justice & mercy for the most marginalized of society. Imgaine believers whose resources are radically & self-sacrifically given for the poor, mission, and societal transformation. Imagine dreamers whose lives are given to the vision of the Kingdom coming in the city as it is in Heaven. Imagine.

This is the kind of dream that is dreamed by believers in King Jesus. Our world is hungry for the church to be the body of Christ in the flesh in every corner of society bringing justice & mercy & salvation & hope. They are begging for it and call us to repent because so often they have not seen it. One can hear it in the popular lyrics of John Lennon, U2, Kanye West, Tracy Chapman, & others. However, it will only be realized when the church decides to be the church: missional, relational, compassionate, peace-makers, transformational, selfless, the very image of Christ. God is on the edge of His seat. He has shared His dream in His Word. Will His children live the dream? Imagine.

Pray for us. That we will live the dream, and that God will show us how.