Recently, as a church, we have been looking at the question: What is a healthy church? We began by looking at three diseases that are affecting the church body today.
1. Obesity
Every gift we are given, we keep to ourselves. We are selfish with what we have – time, relationships, money and the Gospel – and we get fatter and more immobile.
2. Malnourishment
We are neither nourished by the Word of God nor reliant on the Holy Spirit to give it life. We become thin in our understanding of the Gospel and the character of God, and thereby less effective.
3. Multiple Organ Dysfunctional Syndrome (MODS)
As members of the body of Christ, we are supposed to use our gifts to benefit the body and the world. But only a few organs are functioning and blessing the whole with their gifts. This disease causes a lot of stress on the few organs that are functioning overtime.
Today, I would like to add a fourth disease that we did not discuss earlier in the sermon.
4. Dream Deprivation
To be well rested and have enough energy for the day, an adult must go through several phases of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep at night. REM sleep is the deep-sleep period when our eyes have a disco party and we dream the most. If we don’t get enough REM sleep, we become tired, lethargic and unable to function properly. I call this “Dream Deprivation”.
Dream Deprivation is endemic in our churches. We fail to properly spend time in deep rest, and as a result, we are unable to dream bigger for the Kingdom of God. Rest helps us dream, imagine and aspire. Unfortunately, so much of our rest these days is spent entertaining ourselves rather than imagining the possibilities of God. The cure to this is for us to take time out to rest in God – do nothing but dream of what the big possibilities to serve God are.
These days, my five-year-old daughter seems to remember several of her dreams at night. Often, as soon as she wakes up, she excitedly tells me of her dreams. Perhaps we need to be more childlike about our dreams, too.
Here are two questions for you to dream on: Are there any dreams you have for God that you are currently excited about? When can you next take time out to rest in God without any other distractions?
Share your thoughts with us by leaving your comments below. We’d love to hear from you!
Written by Jonny Abraham.
Jonny is the Chief Servant and Delegator of Fusion in New Delhi. He is passionate about servant leadership. In his non-spare time, Jonny consults on leadership training with NGOs, companies and UN agencies. In his spare time, he spares time for a lovely wife and two boisterous daughters.