VISION 2020

What does that mission really mean: Loving People Into A Lifelong Friendship With God? How is it that we go about loving people?  It certainly is different than judging people and not even close to condemning people by their association with a belief system or life practice with which we don't line up. Scripture is clear that Jesus didn't approve of the behavior, the practice, of the woman caught in adultery.  However, in the end, his words were ones of comfort: "Neither do I condemn you. Go and stop you practice of sinning." We may, even here at FHC be enamored by the concept, the idea, some romanticized notion of loving people. But we must move on to boots on the ground. Every day, with great intention, planning, keeping it on the front burner, we must be actively seeking to love people.  It will pay dividends to us; people like to be loved. But that's not why we love. We love because he first loved us, and we want everyone to know the joy of a lifelong (eternal) friendship with the God who defines himself as love.

Maybe the first requirement for having vision is to open our eyes.  When we open our eyes to the hurting, we may be inspired with a comforting vision. When we open our eyes to those who are being oppressed by others, we may arrive at a vision that sets the captives free. When we open our eyes to the lost nature of sin, we may develop a vision to bring salvation and hope. Our vision to be a church without walls can motivate us to move beyond ourselves. Our vision to be fully engaged in serving the people of our community aligns us with the very work of Jesus who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. What might happen if a whole church of people shifted from seeking to be served (having it my way, matching my tastes, comfortable to my style, etc.) to really be committed and fully engage all the time wherever we are (our community at the moment), to being a servant like Jesus? We might just change the world.