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Wandering God

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Dream (March 28th, 2022)

Location: Unknown

In this dream, I spoke with a woman about things regarding the church's operation. "Church Is where we learn to deal with our pet peeves, a young man states boldly, and his mom agrees. This perspective almost made the idea of church that we practice currently necessary for living a holy life and dealing with behaviors we are biased towards and justify in our hearts. I disagreed and claimed that you could do this without the church. Walking with Christ permits you a friend who willingly critiques your behaviors inside and outside of sermons preached on Sunday. If this was true, what then would be the purpose of the church? I would propose that the purpose of the church is not solely educational. In the beginning, education is essential; towards the end, we should understand how to glorify God in our daily lives. The middle is that difficult to categorize period of Christian life referred to as discipleship. For those not sent, the church becomes a place of life and encouragement through the example of our elder siblings in faith who are striving after God. In this way, we learn by their example how to follow God wherever He leads us by watching how He leads them. The testing of our faith will occur outside the church's four walls, not just within them. Because of this, we should have fellow believers who can walk with us either way. If only the pastor is qualified to do this, then that would mean that the church is not growing as Christ intended. We must all grow in our faith and not be content to place the weight of our faith and understanding on a pastor as though it is not a burden to be shared by the entirety of the church who is maturing in faith and Godliness together.

Location: Work

In this next dream, I was at work. I work in the produce department at Walmart; in the dream, I was lying on a metal cart, one we typically keep in the meat department, while covered with my jacket. It was pulled over me like a blanket, but nothing could make that cold steel cart comfortable. By the grace of God, I did sleep. My sleep was soon interrupted by a customer who had been led to me by another associate. The customer wanted to buy some meat, and I was the only associate from either department that could help make sure they could find what they needed if we had it. I shook off sleep and rose to my feet to assist them, willing and ready to serve at a moment's notice. Walmart is hard work; I start my day around 4:20 am to get ready for work which begins at 5:00 am. I work in a cooler most of the day, and I tend to think about work even when I'm home. Sometimes I stay much longer than I should as I try to ensure that everything is taken care of for the following day as I hate to leave any work unfinished. I'm so tired, but I have to pay my bills. I'm writing less and with less complexity because I'm often too tired to write. But I digress. One thing I've been hearing almost every day after I had this dream from friends, family, random stories, or messages has all been things pertaining to rest and trusting God enough to sit down, a current struggle.

Working hard is good, but rest is vital. An analogy comes to mind. The picture in my head is of a man watering a garden every day. He spends so much time doing so that the plants begin to drown. The work is good, but both need a chance to breathe, literally and figuratively. I work breathlessly, as if tomorrow may be my last day; with so much to do, I find it very difficult to go home and leave the burden of what I could not finish with the evening team. Regardless of what my bosses say and how my team steps up, I find myself fighting an inner belief that my inability to finish on time is due to laziness. Because of this thought, I stay late until things are done and spend most of my free time napping or sleeping early to prepare for my next shift. 

Afterthoughts:

Funny enough, this second dream parallels issues that exist within the church. One late evening around 11 pm, or 12 pm, I was nearly finished with my evening shift and was starting to lock up. On this day, I stepped into the church's main sanctuary, where my brother and I saw a woman walking around with several children. The woman was working diligently while the children ran around and played. We greeted her and inquired as to why she was there so late. Her response was this; "Tomorrow my family will meet up for a get-together. I won't have time to serve tomorrow and see my family. So here I am." Answers like this were common among volunteers. People were so busy serving and going to meetings that their kids didn't see them. This was my experience with my parents for a few years before they decided to step down to spend more focused time with my siblings and me. I am glad they did because I needed them too and often felt like they were far out of reach or tired. Here is another example; during the lockdowns, my work at the church did not stop. As volunteers entered the church, I spoke with a few, and here is what they said; "I can rest" or "I can spend time with my family." Members of the church were so busy doing church that they had little time to spend at home with their families.

Serving is good, but respite is good too.  Ministry is great, but family time is necessary. Everybody needs to be with their families, and if church growth is limited to a person's time on a campus building, they have not correctly experienced discipleship. When God tore the temple's veil, He was on His way out of the Holy temple. Just as Jesus said, we won't be and are not currently limited to worshiping God only in a building but in Spirit and truth wherever we are. So what does this all mean? You are the church, not the building. Go home. Your family needs you. Trust that the power of the gospel won't be stopped because you want to sleep in or spend time with family and friends on the weekend.

When Sunday comes don't feel guilty about meeting with members of your ekklesia at the mall or the movies instead of the church building. Invite friends and neighbors to your homes for dinner regardless of their faith, build community gardens together, or consider hosting a language exchange party. Host birthday parties for your community to engage in or other events. Be the church wherever people might need it. Experience discipleship, walk with God and be the church wherever you are. If you do this, wherever you go, the invisible network of the ekklesia will grow and spread because of Christ in you. Christ would not be satisfied to wait to see you until Sunday each week when you come to church too busy to speak to Him.

Ending thought: Unabated by ministry obligations, some believers sat in on service for the first time in months because of the lockdowns.

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