lifeasmission

A new friend shared this quote with me the other day from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s work, Life Together.

He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.

As I was thinking about this, I lamented my tendency to critique church communities based on their failure to embody God’s dream for his people and I quickly began to swing the pendulum the other way, believing that I ought to resign myself to the reality which is the church and push off God’s vision for community to that which will be realized in the fullness of the Kingdom.

Enter Mark…

Mark is one of the directors of the MAGL, a good friend, and someone whose life and ministry I’d be thrilled to approximate. As I unpacked the quote and my response Mark was quick to point out that the key to the whole thing is love. It’s not that we should abandon God’s dream and vision for his people, just that we need to love what is more then what should/will be.

Imagine if God loved us only insofar as we reflected his dream for us? I, for one, am thrilled that God’s love in the here and now gives me strength and hope to step into his vision for me, rather than being contingent on my doing it.