A dream is a picture of a preferred future. When people realize their dreams, we often benefit from them. The appropriate response is gratitude.

Above my head is a bright electric light. Thanks, Thomas Edison!

On my nose are eyeglasses that enable me to focus. Thanks, Benjamin Franklin!

In my garage is a car ready to take me wherever I want to go. Thanks, Henry Ford!

Dreams come with a time limit because human dreamers are mortal. Moses knew this, which is why he prayed, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

The brevity of our lives leads us to ask searching questions: What dream am I giving my best energies to? And how will others benefit when that dream is realized?

For Christians — especially Christian ministers — the biggest dream is God’s. Second Peter 3:9 states it this way: God is “patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (emphasis added).

God plants this dream in us as a seed of possibility. To cultivate it, we need to keep in mind three things.

The Church

First, the Church is the primary agency God uses to advance His kingdom. Wherever the gospel goes, God calls people together into Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered communities of faith. Jesus promised His disciples, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18, emphasis added).

When demographic reports suggest the Church is in decline, it’s easy to slide into pessimism. Granted, churches may experience setbacks or even seasons of spiritual purification, but those experiences don’t nullify Christ’s promise. The Lord will build His Church!

As Christians lean into that promise, church multiplication becomes a priority, and church revitalization gets immediate attention. Because the Church is God’s dream and Christ’s building project, its potential for growth is always greater than the threat of decline.

Furthermore, the Church has the power to change culture. At various points, Christians have withdrawn from culture, looked down on it, and even gone along with it. The goal should be transforming it, however.

Winning arguments is not the Church’s mission. Jesus wants to win people. Consequently, we should engage nonbelievers with “gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). And when we differ with fellow believers, we should follow Matthew 18 principles. We damage our testimony when we mirror worldly practices in dealing with controversial issues.

Finally, the Church’s potential to finish the Great Commission is doable! The World Assemblies of God Fellowship is the fourth-largest Christian denomination globally, with over 85 million adherents and nearly 450,000 churches. By 2033 — the 2,000th anniversary of the Spirit’s outpouring on the Day of Pentecost — our goal is to have 1 million churches doing “the greatest work of evangelism the world has ever seen.”

What dream am I giving my best energies to? And how will others benefit when that dream is realized?

In light of all this, let’s not overcomplicate missions. Christ died for everyone. He is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” as John the Baptist stated (John 1:29). We need to tell everyone this good news.

There is an urgency to our task because life is short and eternity is real. Heaven and hell are real. We must be compassionate in the face of immediate human need, of course. But a church that ignores eternal outcomes is a defective one. 

We must reach people for Jesus.

Good Theology

A second thing to keep in mind as we cultivate God’s dream is that good theology is vital for building healthy churches and leaders.

Sometimes, pastors neglect theological studies because of the crush from ministry responsibilities. They focus on spiritual leadership and practical Christian living instead, as if those things are competitors to theology rather than teammates. 

But as C.S. Lewis warned in Mere Christianity, “If you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones — bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas.”

Bad ideas lead to bad practices. We can see the results of an increasingly post-Christian worldview in many of our institutions. Consider the decline of the family, the secularization of education, the polarization of politics, and the growth of skepticism and irreligion.

If we’re going to reverse these negative trends, we need to preach theologically.

Theology is a building block in the development of a biblical worldview. It teaches us who God is and reveals the idols we often substitute for Him.

What’s more, theology shows us who we are, providing an identity free of unrealistic expectations from ourselves and others.

Theology defines who our neighbor is, influencing how we treat people both inside and outside the Church. And in light of Scripture, it shows what God is doing, thereby shaping our priorities.

Good theology is both truthful and practical. It’s also based on divine revelation rather than personal feelings.

We can’t just feel our way toward God. He must show us the way. That doesn’t mean spiritual longings and experiences are unimportant, however.

Experience has always been and should continue to be a part of Pentecostalism. The gospel demands a change of heart and response of the will, after all. But Pentecostalism’s founders never wanted to build a movement based on experience. They wanted experience to be guided by truth.

Indeed, doctrinal stability was one of the four main reasons for the AG’s founding. (The others were legal standing, coordinated missions efforts, and ministerial training.)

Having said that, theology is not just a grab bag of random facts about God. Yes, the Bible is inspired and inerrant. It tells us truths about God. But those truths aren’t random; they’re interconnected. They are also experientially confirmable. I’ve seen and experienced confirmation of Scripture too many times to doubt it.

Finally, theology is more than just what we believe or why we believe it. It also touches on how we live. Do we really believe the truth if we don’t act like it’s true? Of course not! 

Richard Krejcir reminds us of the importance of integrating our thinking and acting:

Our strength is shown in the things we stand for; our weakness is shown in the things we fall for. People of genius are admired; people of wealth are envied; people of power are feared; but only people of character are trusted.

God’s Power

There’s one more thing to keep in mind. It comes from Ephesians 3:20, where Paul said God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

Of course, there are times when we grow tired. We work hard and see few results. We pray diligently but feel our prayers remain unanswered.

When that happens, our tendency is to dial back our efforts and qualify our prayers to avoid disappointment. We begin downsizing the dream. For lack of a better term, we settle.

If that’s you, let me encourage you with this: God knows your situation. He appreciates your effort. He feels your disappointment.

All God asks is that you faithfully cultivate the dream He has planted within you. It is God who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3:6). In God’s time, He will make more of your faithfulness than you can possibly imagine — by His power.

So keep on cultivating His dream!

This column appears in the winter 2024 issue of Influence magazine.