Everyone needs a vision, a purpose. What we want our life to mean determines how we perceive the world around us and how we make decisions.
An interesting question someone asked me recently was ‘what do you have to give away?’ I was talking about how I want to squad lead when I was asked this question. This got me thinking about what specifically God gave me. I can only give something away if I have it in the first place. As I thought about this I realized that God gave me a perspective that is not common. I see the church as family, even when I see close friends who I pursued the kingdom with I must think before I actually realize they have a different last name than me. In my eyes the Kingdom, the Church, Family, and Home are all different words to describe the same thing. We are the kingdom, the kingdom is a people not a place. We are the church the Bible talks about, not some religion confined by walls. We are to act like a family, fight for each other as family does, be a safe place as home should be. Along with this I naturally love people as though they are my own blood. Think about how much you would do for your brother or sister or child. What if the whole church operated with that sort of unity. That perspective, that heart for family and unity, that is what I have. That is what I can give away.
After this we started discussing vision in CGA, and I tried to think of where my vision was. I have known for a long time that I want to do missions, but that is very vague. I also plan on leading a squad, but that is too small to be my entire vision. Then I remembered what God gave me and I realized that giving that away and building spaces where people can be free and safe is my vision; that is a purpose for my life. Leading the world race is a perfect place to do this. The race is full of young people, many of whom are getting there first view of what the church actually is outside of the buildings we call churches. These are people who are actively seeking to further the kingdom of God but mostly do not know how to do that or even what the kingdom looks like. To set an example of unity for them, and to show them the impact the gospel has in the hands of those who are willing to live it out, that would powerfully influence some lives.
God also put in me another ‘vision’; to reach wandering people. The world is full of travelers who left with almost nothing and wander. These people can often be found on trails and in hostels telling stories of their adventures all over the world. They carry little with them, and they leave little behind. These people know that wherever they came from does not have what they are looking for in life, and they understand that living for work, and working for a living, is not all there is. I have often wondered why God made me so prone to wander, I want to go everywhere and see everything and meet everyone. To reach the wanderers would be to reach the entire world! Travelers are a whole people group, and they influence everywhere. I don’t know what I will do to reach these people yet. Maybe I will backpack the world, maybe I will run a hostel somewhere, maybe I will do both of these and more!
All I know is that this vision is from the Lord and I will continue to steward it well. I will continue to show that the church is a family and it is the kingdom and it is home. The goodness of this that the Lord has shown me is what I hope to instill in people. It is part of me and it is how I will reach the multitudes.
