Much of this I have shared before. This
“what-if list” is something that I privately revisit
on a regular basis—rewording, adding, taking
away, editing. It convicts me, at least most of
it. Hopefully, prayerfully, it will be valuable to
you as well.
What if goodness overcame wickedness?
What if my money became a tool for the glory
of God rather than a gauge of my status?
What if my time was used in the service of
God instead of being solely stockpiled for my
own sake? What if my talent was tapped for
the sake of others rather than simply for my
own profit? What if, instead of a “church
member,” I became a “body part” and a
disciple of Jesus? What if I loved my enemies
rather than returning to them their hostility?
What if being an instrument of peace was
more important to me than being correct?
What if I lived out kingdom ethics instead of
cultural norms? What if in broken relationships
I became an agent of reconciliation, not an
agent of retaliation? What if I received the
invisible and rejected ones in society the
same way in which I receive my closest
friends? What if I ceased lamenting “this
generation” and began instead engaging it in
the love of Christ? What if in my life holiness
reigned supreme over happiness? What if I
worked faithfully to become a patient person?
What if I served more than I grumbled? What
if my comfort was no longer top priority? What
if my trials did not consume me, but I instead
leaned into them in the grace and joy of
Jesus? What if I walked in the humility of the
salvation I have received? What if I
considered what is mine to also be yours?
What if this church—our church—transformed
from a posture.
of reacting to the needs of the community to
a posture where we consistently and
proactively seek ways in which to enter into
relationship with those in our neighborhood?
What if Scripture became for me a lifestyle?
What if I grabbed hold of Jesus as tightly as
he has me? What if I concentrated chiefly on
what is good and just and fair and right?
What if I multiplied those just and fair and
right things in our congregation and in our
community? What if that which is of “first
importance”—the death, burial, resurrection,
and eternal reign of Jesus—became of first
importance in my life? What if I caught God’s
vision for humanity? What if I spoke about
others the same way in which I speak to
others? What if my interactions with others
represented the care and compassion of
Christ? What if I treated my spouse as a
person made in the image of God? What if I
treated my children as people made in the
image of God? What if I treated my siblings
as people made in the image of God? What
if I treated my parents as people made in the
image of God? What if I treated my
neighbors as people made in the image of
God? What if I treated strangers as people
made in the image of God? What if I treated
the religiously pugnacious and doctrinally
eccentric as people made in the image of
God? What if I treated hostile non-believers
as people made in the image of God? What
if I treated my detractors, my haters, those
who have wronged me, my vilest enemies,
as people made in the image of God? What
if I rejected all bellicose responses to others
and instead chose kindness? What if I saw
my gift of salvation as being for the sake of
the world? What if I gave to others what God
has given to me? What if I looked like Jesus
in every human interaction? What if we
became the means by which our community
experiences the kingdom of God? What if we
lived every day as the church that Jesus
bought with his blood? –Ricky