ENVISION the Future

        The second step in our 2024 generosity campaign is arguably the hardest: envisioning the future. In week one we had the exhilarating opportunity to let our imaginations run wild as we imagined the possibilities for our congregation. That’s the brainstorming step, when every idea is acceptable and no judgments are made. Flights of fancy are encouraged.

        But then comes the envisioning step, when we start to weed through all the dreams we came up with in the “imagine” stage and try to make some sense of them and slowly develop a vision based on them. This is less easy and fun than brainstorming/imagining, which helps to explain why so many groups get stuck in the brainstorming stage and never progress beyond it.

        But as Proverbs 29:18 tells us, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (KJV). Other versions of this verse say, “Where there is no prophecy [NRSV] / revelation [NIV], the people cast off restraint.” The words vision, prophecy, and revelation all bring the notion of God’s activity into the mix. Imagination can take place completely within our own minds with no reference to anything or anyone external, even the divine source from which all imagination springs, but a vision or a prophecy or a revelation necessarily entails a revealer. To envision our future properly, we need God’s guidance.

        So what do we do with the possibilities we have imagined? We soak them in prayer, hang them up to dry, and see what patterns emerge. Do any of the things we have imagined hold together in a meaningful and consistent way? Are they random, or is there an overarching theme? And what is that theme? How can we discern whether it is a worthwhile theme or a self-serving one?

        For my money, the touchstone for all this is Jesus’s proclamation and embodiment of the commonwealth of God. He promoted and lived out a vision for life that brought dignity to the downtrodden, healing to the sick, inclusion to the marginalized, and judgment against all who had a vested interest in keeping people downtrodden, sick, and marginalized.

        Are our imagined possibilities in line with these principles? Again, this is a matter for prayer. Some ideas look good on paper—getting more people to join our church, for example—but if we have to compromise Jesus’s message of justice, love, and radical hospitality in order to attract people, we need to stop and ask ourselves if our priorities are in the right order. A church full of people on Sunday may make us feel more financially secure—it may even stroke the ego of the pastor—but if those people don’t give a rip about Jesus’s priorities, I would have to question whether we have gone about things the right way or not. My guess is “not.”

        So as we hone our imagined possibilities into a vision for the future, may we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into the future that God sees for us. If our vision conflicts with God’s, let us jettison our vision with extreme prejudice and trade it in for one that honors Jesus and encourages God’s commonwealth to “come on earth as … in heaven.”