The Power Of A Contagious Dream

1 John 2:28-3:10

Joy Davidman tells the story of an old missionary ministering among a tribe of cannibals. The missionary was hard at work trying to convert the native chief. The chief listened patiently but at last said to the missionary, "I do not understand. You tell me that I must not take my neighbor’s wife. Or his ivory, or his oxen." "That’s right," said the missionary. The chief continued, "And I must not dance the war dance and then ambush him on the trail and kill him." "Absolutely right!" exclaimed the missionary.
"But I cannot do any of these things!" the man replied, "I am too old. To be old and to be Christian, they are the same thing."

If that’s your image of what it means to follow Jesus Christ – following a list of don’ts – of course it’s not going to fire up your passion and energy. If that’s how you portray the Christian life to other people they’re going to say, “Thanks, but no thanks.” But, here’s a truth: The church is the hope of the world. You as followers of Jesus Christ are the church. Therefore: You are the hope of the church.

I want you to begin dreaming the dream that God has for his church and the individuals who make it up. There’s far more to it than you may have imagined. Going to Church is more than seeking self-improvement, sin management, and being good boys and girls. The desire at the core of your being, which was placed there by God himself, is the very thing that the church is supposed to make real. Even if you haven’t made a faith commitment to Jesus Christ there is a contagious dream that you dream and God has put the church in your path so that you may attain it.

Don’t know what that dream is? Let’s look at verses from 1 John to find out. 1 John was written because the church of his own day was being infiltrated by false teachers who were leading people astray and clouding the vision that God had for them.

These false teachers were called the Gnostics. They had various kinds of beliefs, but basically they said that knowledge was the way of salvation. As long as you had secret knowledge about Jesus in the end you’d be alright. They taught that one day all material things would be destroyed. They didn’t even believe that Jesus had come in the flesh. He was merely a spirit who appeared to be flesh. The Gnostics believed that it didn’t matter if you committed sins with your body because it didn’t count and would be destroyed one day. Some of them went to the extreme and advised their followers to plumb the depths of sin. They said that it could spiritually be a good thing to live as much evil as possible.

They were a lot like many folks today. You know the type. For them Christianity is merely a “get out of hell free card.” As long as you make a profession of faith and get baptized, it doesn’t really matter how you live. They have prayed the sinners prayer or walked the isle or raised their hand to receive Christ, but they live their lives unconcerned about the things of God. Claiming to believe while leading an ungodly life is a lie. People who live like this have never experienced genuine faith. Here’s 5 reasons why:

1. Faith Brings Hope.

Faith brings life-changing hope. Look how John describes the vital link between the two. “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.” 1 John 2:28-29 (NIV)

Genuine faith brings with it a hope, an expectation that we will one day stand before the holy, uncorrupted, pure, righteous God of the universe. We will stand before Jesus Christ on his return. Real faith brings a hope of standing before our God without shame. When we have genuine faith in Jesus Christ we’re reborn spiritually. God views us as righteous … really right … without sin … however you choose to say it. Then he begins to make us righteous. The thing he pronounces about us he works to produce in us. Faith brings hope that we will stand before God pure and confident one day. God pronounces us to be so, then he produces righteousness in us. It also spurs us to go after righteousness ourselves. Here’s where the dream come into play. Faith brings hope and …

2. Hope Produces Vision.

When our faith is real, evidenced by hope, we begin to get a picture of what we will be one day. Here’s what we will be. Here’s God’s dream for us and consciously or unconsciously it what your heart longs for. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:1-2 (NIV)

Do you get what that’s saying? Because God loves you so much he’s going to call you to himself through faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, you a sinner, God has called you his very own child. One day, as his own child you will be like his Son. You will be a dazzling reflection of Jesus Christ. You will be a human representation of God himself. You won’t be God, but you’ll accurately reflect his image. That’s the vision that God has for your life. That’s the dream that he want you to dream. It’s not just about going to heaven one day. It’s about becoming just like Jesus day by day until the process is consummated when you meet him face to face. God wants to restore his image in you.

In the book of Genesis mankind is described at creation as being an exact representation of God on earth in human form. He created us to govern in his place over the earth. Our rebellion and disobedience in one thing marred that image of God and thwarted God’s intention that we rule and enjoy the earth in his place.

God is now in the process of restoring us and the world back to that pristine condition. He has to get us right before the rest of creation can follow. The book of Romans says that creation is waiting in extreme anticipation for the children of God to be revealed.

If your faith is real you’ve got hope that you’ll see the Creator one day. If you’ve got that hope, you may or may not have a vision of yourself unashamed and shining with God’s glory on that day because you’ve been made just like Jesus who is the visible image of the invisible God. If you’ve got that vision for your own personal future, great!

3. Vision Secures Commitment.

Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:3 (NIV) I’ve noticed that the people who have a commitment to personal purity have a dream of one day being pure. They can picture themselves living lives that please God. They desire the purity that God will give them one day, but they also go after it themselves. That’s part of the power of a contagious dream it secures personal commitment to it.

4. Commitment Brings Action.

Sin is a condition of the heart, a commitment and it is also an action a word, a thought, a deed, or an attitude. Righteousness or doing what is right is also a condition of the heart, a commitment, and an action. John describes the concept this way:

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 1 John 3:3-9 (NIV)

Before you panic about those last few verses let me give a little explanation. They do not say that if you really have faith and are a child of God that you will never sin. You will. Trust me. John says you won’t continue in sin. Your commitment to purity, driven by a vision of being Christ-like, derived from your hope and faith, will lead you to confess sin when you commit it and then do all in your power with God’s help to abandon it. If, on the other hand, you continue in the same sins asking God to forgive you as a magical incantation to bring forgiveness so you can do it again without fear of reprisal, it’s a sure sign of whose side you’re on. If Jesus Christ is truly your forgiver and leader you’ll do all in your power to get rid of sin in your life. You want play around with it. You’re so compelled by a vision of seeing Christ face to face and being changed into his likeness that personal purity is the only option. Here’s the greatest part of it all. That dream of change, that vision of Christ-likeness is possible. It can become a reality.

5. Action Facilitates Transformation.

This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:10 (NIV) Ultimately, transformation into Christ-likeness can be measured in your capacity to love. I’m not talking about romance. This kind of love is self-giving, expecting nothing in return and seeking the highest good of other people. If you want to know whether or not you’re entering into that vision of God’s image restored in you look at your ability to love. The Bible tells us that “God is love” 1 John 4:8

God is not rules. God is not Bible study or prayer. God is not church attendance. God is not good works. God is love. He so love the world that he sacrificed himself for us. That’s what God is after. He wants to transform you and me into beings who can reflect Him. If he is love we must become love - even loving the unlovely. (clip: A Beautiful Mind)

Faith to hope to vision to commitment to action, that’s what brings the transformation. At Faith Community we believe that Christ-likeness starts in this life, not the next. With God’s power and your action you can begin living the reality of what you will one day become now. God wants you to be released from sin and death to enjoy the freedom of life with him right now, not just in the sweet by and by. Look at the process of transformation in 2 Corinthians3:17-18: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” (NRSV) Freedom to be all that God has called us to be is possible now, not just in the future.

Henri J.M. Nouwen in Beyond the Mirror says, “The great spiritual task facing me is to so fully trust that I belong to God that I can be free in the world – free to speak even when words are not received; free to act even when my actions are criticized, ridiculed, or considered useless; free also to receive love from people and to be grateful for all the signs of God’s presence in the world. I am convinced that I will truly be able to love the world when I fully believe that I am loved far beyond its boundaries.”

[Jesus said] “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 Did he say, “I’ve come that they may have heaven”? No. Abundant life. A life overflowing with God’s love and freedom and power. A life of joy and peace. That sounds like heaven to me. And it is. Heaven starts on this side of eternity.

The vision of Faith Community is directly linked to the personal vision that God has for each of you. That is: To become a church where God’s IMAGE is clearly reflected. That’s what God has called our church to look like. This is what we dream of being. How?

1. By Sharing An Understandable Message. Imagine a church where the “good news” of the Bible makes sense. Unchurched people have a loving, non-threatening, culturally relevant avenue to consider the claims of Christ and to connect with real people who have had a life-changing encounter with God.

The marks of our corporate worship include technology, clear communication, positive atmosphere and excellence at every level. Bible principles are made relevant and practical. God’s power is present to convince, convict and convert.

2. We Must Have a Mutual Ministry. Imagine a church where ministry is shared. There is no distinction between laity and clergy. All are considered ministers. Each member is equipped, commissioned and empowered to fulfill their God-given life calling. As servants of Christ in the church, and in the world, believers experience God’s power transforming the lives of others by His Spirit.

3. We Must Have an Authentic Community. Imagine a church where community is real. Members are not mere spectators, but are actively involved in the lives of other believers through faithfulness to a small group. No one slips through the cracks. No need goes unmet. No hurt continues unhealed. Members are committed to mutual care and accountability. Personal holiness is achieved in connection with other believers. And this unity causes a longing for relationships in a disconnected world.

4. This Results In Genuine Evangelism. Imagine a church where lost people find Jesus. Individual believers take on a missionary mindset and intentionally go into their world, build honest relationships with nonbelievers and share their faith through personal evangelism. Decisions for Christ and transformed lives are the norm rather than the exception.

5. This Results in a Complete Devotion to Jesus Christ. Imagine a church where Jesus Christ is the head. He is the means of our salvation, the object of our devotion, the reason for our service, the pattern for our character, and the destination of our souls.

Does this dream grab you? Then I invite you to make a deeper commitment than attending a service on Sunday. Is Christ-likeness your vision? Begin to act on that dream together with God’s people here. He wants us to become a church where his image is clearly reflected. That’s the road that we’re on. I invite you to join us on the journey.