Dreaming With God: Co-Laboring With God for Cultural Transformation by Bill Johnson

Author:Bill Johnson
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Religion, Christian Education, General
ISBN: 9781459600416
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
Published: 2010-10-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

The Practical Side of Things

If it matters to you, it matters to Him.

Perhaps you’ve heard it said, God is number one, the family is number two, and the Church is number three.... That unofficial list is important as it outlines a few of the priorities in a Christian’s life that have become confused through the years. I know of many tragedies in pastor’s families because they ignored these priorities of Kingdom living. Yet, as good as this list is, I don’t believe it is technically accurate. When God is number one, there is no number two.

Out of my love for God I give myself to my wife and kids. It’s not separate from the Lord, but is unto Him. It’s not that I can’t love my wife without loving God—many unbelievers do that well. But in knowing and loving God, I am released to a measure of supernatural love that is unattainable apart from God. It should be said that anyone who is completely abandoned to God should love others more than they thought possible. It is because of my passion for Jesus that I love the Church the way I do. My love for God is my love for life. They cannot be separated. Loving my family, church, ministry.. .is an expression of my love for God. God being number one, the only One.

Religion is what destroys this process because it implies that only overtly spiritual activities are acceptable as service to God and that anything that doesn’t have to do with Bible reading, witnessing, church attendance, etc. is not true Christian service. Religion takes us back to the concept of spiritual and secular parts of the Christian life. The person living this dual life needs a list of priorities to survive; otherwise they will not take care of other matters of importance. Their concept of God doesn’t allow them to actually have a passion for something that is not viewed as a Christian discipline.

What may appear to be semantics for some has purpose for this reason: we must have a shift in thinking whereby we recognize that passion for God gives birth to a passion for other things. And it’s those other things that are often to be pursued as unto the Lord. We shouldn’t experience them as something in competition with, or separate from our devotion to God. Perhaps the best example of this in Scripture is found in First John 4:20. It says that if we love God it will be measurable by our love for people. This is such an absolute principle that God says if we don’t love others, we don’t actually love Him. The point is this: in the wake of our passion for God, passion for other things is created. It is often in giving ourselves to those things that we prove and manifest our love for God.

In my case my love of the outdoors is part of my devotion to Christ. While some worship nature, I worship the One it points to—the Creator.

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