We often hear of the American Dream. What does it mean? The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” A slacker sense of the American Dream is simply the pursuit of health, wealth and prosperity. It is this slacker sense that Kay Warren said may be ruinous if it is made the centre of our lives. She made that remark on August 21, 2022 when she and her husband were giving their farewell message at Saddleback Church, a church they founded and pastored for 43 years.
I believe this is what might be called the Believers’ Dreams – making the invisible God visible – regardless of what that might cost us.
Someone may wonder whether there is anything wrong with pursuing health, wealth and prosperity. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with all of these. The problem is if we make them the centre of our lives, in which case it becomes difficult to pursue God’s ideal if it points in a different direction. Take the disciple Matthew for an illustration. He had made a fortune being a tax official before Jesus called him. At that point, he was willing to let go of everything to follow Christ. If he still made the pursuit of wealth and prosperity the central focus of his life, he would never have become the disciple of Jesus. Kay Warren believes that every Christian should let God interrupt their own preconceived idea of normal life. According to her, when this happens, someone becomes a “dangerously surrendered, seriously disturbed, and gloriously ruined disciple of Jesus Christ, who knows every day what your job is — who knows what your task is in the world. It is to make the invisible God visible.” I believe this is what might be called the Believers’ Dreams – making the invisible God visible – regardless of what that might cost us.