God's Dream: No Outsiders

"With God there are no outsiders." Eugene Peterson offers this simple and profound statement in his introduction to the book of Luke in The Message translation of the Bible. "With God there are no outsiders." He goes on to write: "As Luke tells the story, all of us who have found ourselves on the outside looking in on life with no hope of gaining entrance (and who of us hasn't felt it?) now find the doors wide open, found and welcomed by God in Jesus.

Hmmm. A story that opens the doors wide open -- and invites us to connect with God, who created us and who is still creating. No outsiders. Everyone inside -- so that the invisible walls of "outside" and "inside" simply vanish.

When I dream about what Jesus wants for his followers -- something different than what most of us know as "organized religion" or "the church," I dream of spaces where we find ourselves in the presence of the mystery of God -- and spaces where there are no outsiders. All are welcome. All are included. All experience God's healing love. A space where the doors are wide open, and everyone experiences what it is to be beloved by God -- that's my dream for the community we are calling "The Village Church."

God's dream: no outsiders.

What's your dream?