To Dream Again

Over three decades ago, Robert Dale wrote a book entitled To Dream Again. Later he wrote its sequel, Keeping the Dream Alive. The books targeted churches facing a plateaued and declining spiritual energy. The premise was a church did not have to decline into ultimate death. It could make decisions, perhaps both costly and painful, that would lead to renewed life and a strengthened focus upon its primary mission. It revolved around remembering the initial dream of why it existed and the possibility that dream could live again.

I am getting older (big news there!). Within the next decade I will have become enrolled in Medicare, moved from full time to part time employment, and hopefully moved beyond a mortgage. During that same time I expect there will be health changes among the family, perhaps even the loss of members of the older generation. Though I will do what I can to slow my own aging process, stopping it is not one of my priorities. Continuing to live out my dreams is.

I have already taken that first step in daring to dream again. Sure, I have a bucket list, and it contains far more than I would ever be able to accomplish even given another 100 years. The list contains getting additional education including learning to speak at least one foreign language fluently. I would love to spend multiple weeks on archaeological digs and explore the prominent sites of early American colonial history.

I want to read the collected works of our nation’s founding fathers and the primary writers during the Civil War. The presidency of Harry Truman fascinates me as he dealt with issues of ending World War II and the conflict between civilian and military power involving General Douglas McArthur. Reading only one Shakespearean play since high school is a tragedy, and as everyone knows reading The Lord of the Rings only ten times is not nearly enough!

Dreams must never be restricted to the fancy of children or to starry-eyed, young lovers. We grow old, as one sage said, only when our regrets begin to outnumber our dreams. Living under the control of the One who is true life will lessen our regrets. (John 11:25-27)  Living with his promises as our foundation will keep our dreams alive. (Matthew 28:20; John 14:3, 15-18, 23)

Recently I put my first literary contract in the mail, signed and dated. For many years I have considered putting my dreams into a form that could be shared with others. In 2014 it may actually happen. The size of the book and its expected total readership will keep me humble. Pride is not on my bucket list. I can say, however, I kept my dream alive.

People stop living when they stop dreaming. This is not deeply philosophical. We dream of planting flowers when spring arrives. We dream of picking that first ripe tomato of the summer.   We dream of the beauty of trees aflame with color with the arrival of autumn. We dream of the wonder of a white Christmas. Call it anticipation because it may be out of our personal control, but such thoughts still give birth to dreams that make us feel alive.

Churches are no different in this respect. Dr. Dale understood that churches grow older, but they don’t have to die. Aging brings changes in a church, but death need not be inevitable. Churches can dream again. Churches can return to the vibrancy of their youth. They can return to the times when taking risks were to be eagerly anticipated with faith in God instead of avoided as being “impractical”.

Each day is a gold mine guaranteed to produce riches if we are willing to go into the mine and put in the work, take the risks, and use the resources God has provided. The surprise may be in that we do not find gold, but rather precious stones. God allows us to dream and will work with us to fulfill the dreams that match his own for us. There we find the true fulfillment, when we learn to dream the dreams he has dreamed for us. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

Taking Necessary Risks

Recently I watched the movie The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, one of my favorite actors. When a person realizes time is a limited commodity, using it well should become a priority. Unfortunately what all too many don’t seem to realize is that time is always a limited commodity. We shouldn’t have to be told we have six to twelve months to live to understand every moment is precious and should be used accordingly.

When does life become so precious it can be filled only with the events that make it worth living? Only when we reach a point where we no longer fear death can we truly begin to live. Only those who have faced death seem able to value the important things of life such as family, friendship, and self-sacrificing love, relationships and not materials objects.

A follower of Jesus Christ more than any other person should see the importance of living each moment to its fullest. The gift of life assumes its greatest power as it is given back to its Giver in service that glorifies its origin. Life reaches its pinnacle of value as it is used for the glory of God and his Kingdom. A believer’s bucket list has this purpose as its priority.

When we read the story of the three servants in the Parables of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the response of the master of the house to the three is what grabs our attention. We dream of hearing the response of “Well done” to our own lives. None of us want to hear, “you wicked and lazy servant.”

Looking closer at the story, we note the servants were given no instructions on how to use the money placed in their responsibility. They were told to go and make more money! This was at a time when there were no loan guarantees, no investment insurance, and little recourse to civil suits in case of fraud. They were on their own.

Perhaps the greatest difference in the three servants was the level of risk they were willing to take. Two stepped out and doubled their money. The third buried his responsibility fearful that he would lose what he had. We can say his bucket list, if he had had one, would not have included sky diving or muscle car racing!

Those first disciples of Jesus were faced more than once with the choice of playing it safe and walking away from Jesus. In the end we know of the eleven who remained faithful, ten were martyred and one endured only through a long exile. Their bucket list contained one primary item, remain faithful through death itself.

On one occasion, as the crowds decided the message of Jesus was too costly, he asked his close associates of their plans. (John 6:66-69, also consider Luke 18:28) Their response was to say they had nowhere else to go to find the words of life. In spite of his reputation as the Doubter, it was Thomas who said as the brave band faced that last trip to Jerusalem, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16)

A bucket list for a believer should begin and end with the effort to fulfill one great command from God, “Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness.” That will include seeking to reflect the nature of Christ and serving as a member of his Body. There will be no easy path to follow, no social acceptance, no praise from the world, no masses of adoring followers. To place the Kingdom of God and living according to his holy righteousness above all else is to face a life of high risk and potentially deadly confrontation with the world. And there is no vacation from it once the decision is made. (Luke 9:61-62)

Does your bucket list contain dreams involving risks, or does it consist of watching paint dry and grass grow? If you had hours or decades left to live, when it was over, would the Lord of life say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”?