The word “imagination” has been kicked around these days, like we can’t trust or use it. But I wonder what could happen if we started imagining together a new and different future, for us and for our world. What could that look like?
I’m sitting in my office on a cool, June morning, thinking about you — thinking about what it is that God would want to say to us through our minds, through our ability to imagine, dream and think big thoughts for the Kingdom. I’m imagining what God could do through a group of young adults if they truly aligned their hearts and minds on the things that are on the heart and mind of God — living on a Friday and anticipating Sunday. But why should we? Why should we even care about this?
That’s a great question. It’s one I want to attempt to answer.
Why should we care? Simply put, because God cares. It’s because of His nature and character, not ours. He drives this train. How and where does He drive it? However and wherever He wants to.
Here’s what I’m trying to say: we believe that God is active everywhere, working at all times for the sake of His Kingdom. God isn’t limited to our location. He isn’t limited to the space we fill, but His Spirit is everywhere —all the time — working to reveal Himself to everyone. If you don’t believe that, then re-read the claims found in John 3:16, which is much broader than people think.
Because God is active everywhere at all times, we are to be a people that look outward, seeking out the places where God is active, and joining Him in those places. It’s why we send missionaries, plant churches, visit prisons, minister in nursing homes, invest in mentoring kids, preach the Word, build homes, love the handicapped, minister to the homeless and feed the hungry. We believe that God precedes us in every one of these activities, whether in the city or on the farms; in the slums or in mansions; with the rich or with the poor. He is already there. If He is there, these are the places we should go as well.
But those activities take us out of our comfort zones, which is why they involve our imagination. We need to realize that things can be different; we need to imagine a day when things are better. And because of our dreaming and imagining, we then try to create a world that looks like our God-given dream. With God, we imagine and dream, because He already sees it. It’s up to you and me to join Him, making “it” happen.
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