Maybe that’s a bit of an overreach and hyperbole, but Coldplay’s title track off their recent album does provide brilliant imagery for the church and the birth of creative faith-based initiatives.
There is much that could be said about each line and stanza as we consider what it can, and in many places does, look like for ordinary saints and community leaders to form their conferences of birds, leave their broken windows open to new possibilities, and let the light of God’s Spirit stream in and through their communities.
The imagination is quite possibly the greatest attestation to people being made in the imago Dei; to dream is to participate in the divine life. If we allow our heads to be full of dreams versus perceived limitations, nurtured by Christ's call to love and bless our neighborhoods and the world God so loves, miracles can and will happen.
As God's people imagine alternatives to cultural narratives, oppressive systems, and unjust institutions that infringe upon God’s longing for human flourishing near and far, we bear witness to the presence of the Spirit in the midst of a despairing world. When we dream of peace in war-torn nations and cities, equal opportunity for people regardless of their race, class, gender, or orientation, and quality education available to all children, we plant the seeds of holistic change and social transformation. When we imagine the call of the church to be about more than organizational preservation and risk acting upon these dreams and more, collaborating with others who share similar visions, these seeds take root and grow into new realities of shalom.
As God's people imagine alternatives to cultural narratives, oppressive systems, and unjust institutions that infringe upon God’s longing for human flourishing near and far, we bear witness to the presence of the Spirit in the midst of a despairing world. When we dream of peace in war-torn nations and cities, equal opportunity for people regardless of their race, class, gender, or orientation, and quality education available to all children, we plant the seeds of holistic change and social transformation. When we imagine the call of the church to be about more than organizational preservation and risk acting upon these dreams and more, collaborating with others who share similar visions, these seeds take root and grow into new realities of shalom.
And this is God’s dream for us and the whole world.
So while there are many great hymns and modern worship songs, maybe the lyrics of Coldplay would do well to fill our sanctuaries this Pentecost season. After all, our sanctuaries are to be places where heads and hearts become full of dreams for how we can embody the Good News of Jesus Christ wherever we have landed.