Sacrificing Today on the Altar of Tomorrow - 2 May 2014

One of my professors at University had a varnished wooden sign hanging above his desk with the words: ‘As now, so then’ engraved on it.

I had often stared blankly at those words during moments when the lilting tone of his theological insights lulled me into a daydream.

But I never properly read them.  And I certainly never thought about what they really meant.

Not until 2 years later, as I sat drinking hot chocolate with a friend  discussing life, I suddenly became aware that us 20-somethings are consumed with the question ‘what next?’

Whether it’s your career, your calling, your relationships or the terrifying thought of applying for a mortgage, those of us at this point in our lives are constantly bombarded with questions of the future.  What is next for you?  

As I stirred the marshmallows around in my hot chocolate I was reminded of that dusty plaque above my professor’s desk; ‘As now, so then.’

If there’s one thing our generation has really done well, it is dreaming.  We have realised the importance of having big dreams for our lives and we all want to change the world.  But what if our dreams cause use to become so consumed with the ‘what next’ question that we neglect to think about ‘what now.’  

How am I actually spending today?

That is the question that my professor’s plaque addresses and it is a question that is deeply poignant for a generation of dreamers. At some point along the way, we need to begin to realise our dreams and make decisions in our everyday moments, which propel us into our desired destinies. 

As now, so then. 

We are the generation that knows that “without vision the people perish”.  We are the generation that knows we are powerful and that we hold within us the ability to change the world. But do we know how to run towards our vision, our dreams, and work on them bit by bit until they are living, breathing, life-changing realities, or do we just know how to run?  

Always on to the next thing...  

Always moving forwards but never really building anything...

I think our dreams are the most important things in the world. They are secret plans invested into us by the ultimate visionary. The one who dreamt up stars and then flung them into the space that surrounds us.  

And now he reaches down and flings stars into our eyes; these powerful glimmers of hope and strategy of what he wants his kingdom to look like.                            

As the leader of something called ‘The Vision Course’, which is dedicated to the discovery and pursuit of destinies, I am absolutely a firm believer in being carriers of world-changing visions.  

But I am also a firm believer in today. Ultimately our grandest visions boil down to a series of ‘todays’: a bunch of decisions made, a gathering of friends, some actions, some reactions.  

I think our generation is incredibly good – perhaps better than any before – at dreaming up what next.  But have we forgotten the power in asking ‘what now?’

What if our everyday experiences were there – not just to prepare or develop us for our future… what if everyday holds within it countless little Kingdom moments which together add up to the grand calling that God has placed on you: your life lived to the full (John 10:10).

If our perspective shifted from our tomorrows to our todays, I think it would change everything about how our dreams ultimately get realised.  

From your first sip of coffee in the morning to falling asleep curled up with a book, I wonder how differently life might look if we approached our days not with the question ‘what’s in this day for me,’ but rather ‘what’s in me for this day.’

What is that special thing within you that you can offer this day? Where will you come most alive today and how can you do that to the glory of God? I think this perspective shift could speed our dreams along... 

I think we  would check facebook less. I think we would laugh more. I think we’d be more inclined to notice peoples’ expressions and recognise the places where loneliness could be transformed with our presence. I think we would say yes more.  

And I think we would have such an amazing time along the journey that we’d be genuinely surprised to look back and realise that our dreams and visions have come true.

Us 20-somethings will change the world.  And those of us who follow Jesus will change it by looking more like him so the world can see God.  But that change needs to begin with the question ‘what now’, not just ‘what next.’  

Perhaps my professor was right about the importance of today for our tomorrows.  

And so I want to ask you, not: ‘what are you going to do with your life,’ but: what are you going to do today?