My Terrifying (yet thrilling) Vision

I live and serve among a missional church community in the neighborhood of Golden Hill.  It is just miles from the heart of the “American Dream” where reputation and financial status are the measuring sticks of success. As I look out my second story apartment window, I can see downtown with the Merrill Lynch sky scraper owning the skyline.

Just a few miles to the south there is a whole different world.  Drug trade, illegal immigration and gang activity are the symptoms of a much deeper dysfunction.  Amidst their oppressive state, there is a people who will risk their lives, reputation and tradition in order to experience the glamorous “American Dream” of their neighboring country.

Between these two worlds there is a multi-billion dollar wall that is supposed to keep out anything or anyone that may compromise such Dream.  Ironically, it is the thousands that cross from south to north of the border each day that keep the American Dream alive.  As janitors, field workers and dishwashers they often go unseen, while I gladly accept the smokescreen of my comfortable reality.

As a community of Jesus followers who desire to walk closely in the footsteps of our Rabbi, we have spent the past four months discerning each of our unique roles within the bigger story of God’s redemptive work in the world. We focused on two realities:

1. True North: What God has done, is doing and hopes to do in the world as revealed through Scripture and the redemptive work of Jesus.
2. Personal Vision: Discerning (through testing, counsel, prayer, reflection on earlier parts of our story) each of our unique roles within God’s unfolding mission/vision for Creation

At the end of this process, we all were challenged to write a personal vision statement based on how God has wired us in our gifts, passions, values, skills, etc…

This is my vision statement:

What’s unique about a vision statement like this is that it isn’t some far out ideal.  No, it is a calling to begin stepping into right now.  I could blow this off and wait until something a bit more comfortable and convenient pops up, but I believe I would be disobedient.

Central to this vision is honesty.  Not honesty to be offensive or arrogant, but honesty in telling the stories of those who’s otherwise might not be told.

This is both a terrifying and enlivening challenge for a guy who often defaults to topics that are more comfortable and socially agreeable.  If I am to be true to how God is calling me into his Story, I guess I can no longer hide behind such insecurities.

P.S. This is a picture I took this past summer while driving in the West Bank/Palestine.  Ironic how just miles from the epicenter of faith/religion there is world where humans created in God’s image struggle to find a job making $1 an hour.