Logo

 

Banner Image:   Baptist-Times-banner-2000x370-
Template Mode:   Baptist Times
Icon
    Post     Tweet


It is my dream


Are we following our dreams - or Jesus? By Michael Shaw


Cross800

I was a student in the mid-90s. It was the era of Blur and Oasis, as well as the Stone Roses, Suede and Pulp. One of  Pulp’s best known songs Common People told the story of a young woman from a wealthy background who wanted to be ordinary. The point of the song was that, even if she lives that life, at any point she could call her Dad and he would rescue her.
 
I was in a conversation with a young woman, who works for a national justice organisation. I spoke about my situation in Devonport, about the high levels of deprivation I see around me. In response, she said, 'It is my dream to live on an estate.'
 
As I was reflecting on the conversation, while I admired her passion and enthusiasm, those words struck me. You see the thing is it is not my dream to live where I do, far from it; my wife and I often dream of a different life, I have an alert set up with one of the online estate agents of houses that we could never afford but can dream about living in. I live where I live not because it is my dream, but because this is where God has called me, and until he calls me elsewhere, then this is where I will stay.
 
But then I thought more, it is not the dream of my neighbours' either, or some members of our church community. This area is maybe one of the few areas they can afford to live in, such are the low house prices and rent. This is not the dream location for many.
 
However, even they have some choice, but others have been moved here because there is a high level of social housing. They were not given a choice to live here, they just had to move here. They would probably love to have greater choice about where they live.
 
For others, Devonport has been the only place they have ever known, they may never have lived anywhere else, and that stretches back several generations. They have any aspirations drummed out of them, and have been constantly told (both consciously and unconsciously)  that they are not worth anything more and their dreams will never be fulfilled.
 
Then there are the men and women who live in the homeless hostel nearby or the various bedsits that surround it. When they were growing up it was not their dream to live in this temporary way, but a life event, abuse in childhood, loss of job, partner or home has left them seeking sanctuary in this place and the location is not accidental: not many other areas in the city would allow a homeless hostel in the heart of their community.
 
Our conversation moved onto programmes, and models for how you get people in the wider church into justice. To me though there is one simple model that I have followed: deep listening. I come to a community like Devonport not to be the solution, but to learn. To recognise that each day is a learning day, that my clever solutions are probably not that clever. The model of Jesus was  incarnation, and incarnation is costly, it was costly to Jesus, but if we are to follow Jesus, the incarnation is the only model we have.
 
I doubt it was Jesus’ dream to become human, live the life of a homeless itinerant preacher and die the death of a thief.
 
Like so many in my community it is not my dream to here, but while the world tells us to follow our dreams, Scripture tells us we need to follow Jesus, and following Jesus is not always a comfortable life!
 

Image | Roman Denisenko | Unsplash

 

Michael Shaw is minister of Devonport Community Baptist Church in Plymouth

 
 



Do you have a view? Share your thoughts via our letters' page

 

 
Baptist Times, 06/10/2020
    Post     Tweet
Collaboration, and our worship of Jesus
Notes from the two keynote addresses from Dave Ferguson and Alex Harris at the first Everyone Everywhere national conference on 8 October
Israel-Palestine: I can’t keep up
Baptist church member David Nelson has travelled to Israel and the West Bank on three occasions in the past 24 months. He offers this reflection on events in the region
Dwelling in scripture
Anne Le Tissier outlines the practice of remaining in just one or a few Bible verses for an entire week or more, which is explored more fully in her new book 'Dwell – Inviting God’s Word to make a home in our lives, one day at a time'
Protests or race riots?
Justice enabler Wale Hudson Roberts reflects on this summer's race riots. In doing so, he asks: what role can Baptists Together play in addressing the voice of the far right, Islamophobia, and racism in church and society?
Should your faith rely solely on the Bible?
For many of us, the Bible is by far and away the book that has most influenced our lives. But as Baptists, Jesus is our number one authority, writes Chris Goswami
The Church, the far right, and the claim to Christianity
The far right has grown in prominence in recent years - with some cynically employing Christian-sounding language. Helen Paynter highlights the current context - and how the Church can respond
     The Baptist Times 
    Posted: 14/10/2024
    Posted: 02/10/2024
    Posted: 22/07/2024
    Posted: 07/05/2024
    Posted: 12/02/2024
    Posted: 22/12/2023
    Posted: 16/12/2023