My alarm sounded and I woke this morning from a pretty intense dream and shared with my wife that “church people are mean.” Wow, really I thought? The first thing in my head this morning was that? Well, I was dreaming about being in a very large church where two churches were hoping to come together. These two churches were similar, but their leaders were very opposite. One of them was a very calm, well-dressed man that seemed a bit insecure and the other man, stoic in appearance, dressed casually, was listening intently.

A person stood up and began talking and said that if “he” would come to the meeting to hear… the person was referring to the stoic pastor. He begins loudly speaking, “I have a name and I will not / we will not (speaking for me too) …” He spoke for a time, the church crowds shared words with each other, some good some bad, but his speech seemed to ignite the room and I remember standing near the stoic pastor and was just sad. Sad that these two groups of people that serve and love the same god were in this battle of sorts. I saw one man from afar that I recognized and waved to him. He came over and said hi and said something like “we just seem to never be in the same place..” and his wife saw me and asked if I came to an earlier service and my reaction was surprise and I just said “no, I’m just right here.” — REMEMBER this was a dream.

Now this dream had thoughts rolling around in my head quickly. What was the deal? Why was I dreaming about church, people and their not so loving side? I mean sure, I am an executive pastor and church / people is my life, but there are no plans of combining or changing anything at the church. I didn’t watch anything on tv that would place those thoughts there, but why this dream?

I think the answer might lie in the fact that yesterday was Thanksgiving and my wife, our kiddo and I spent the afternoon with my mom at the care center she lives at. We had a great visit with mom; food, cards, laughs and conversations! But I remember walking around and seeing some of the residents and thinking how sad they looked with no family visiting them this holiday. There was an absence of “love.”

It doesn’t matter if you are a billionaire or a homeless person or a rock star or worship leader. The ugly duckling or the swan, the single or married. The pastor or businessman, the criminal or the person never been in prison. We all want the same thing. I believe we even all crave this same thing. You can be white, black, Asian, Latino, Indian or whatever other nationality / race we all want the same thing – to be loved.

Take a moment and think about it. How do you feel when someone says “I love you” to you? I am not only talking about some romantic feeling here. I am talking about genuinely loving someone as a friend, a human being, someone you are care about and sure even in a romantic way. I’ve told people that I love them. I tell my wife that I love her many times a day. It’s not stale, it’s not to get something, I am not in trouble, etc. I love this woman! But I also love my mom and my kiddo. I have friends that I care about and love and some of them are men and guess what? We tell each other that we love each other, of course it usually ends with “brother.” But it is meant!

Think about those with so much money and power, let’s talk about Elon Musk. Elon is fifty years old and has been married three times, twice to the same woman and has seven children. Oh, and he is the richest person in the world at 293.1 billion dollars net worth. He has more money than what any one of us will ever see. He has owned seven homes with a total value over 100 million dollars and sold them all. He has owned many cars, including a Mclaren F1 worth over 20 million dollars that he totaled in a car crash and of course he drives his Tesla’s. Elon has achieved status beyond compare, built, building, an empire of sorts. But does he know “love?” I would argue for and against that he does and does not. I have watched him in many interviews and even though he has Asperger’s, he has a look that he is longing to be loved for who he is and not what he has or is worth. You cannot buy love.

That same longing look that I believe Elon has, you will see in many people around you on any given day. Your co-workers, the strangers shopping next to you, the store clerk, the teacher, the doctor and that homeless person. We ALL want to be loved. We want to know that we matter, someone cares about who we are and not what we have or are worth.

Back to what triggered this blog, my dream. Dreaming about churches and people being mean. Yes, even in churches you will find mean people. Do you know why? We are all human beings, not one of us is perfect, we all have flaws that many of us are always working on. Mean people are mean people because life happens, not happy, insecure, selfish, sad, sick, angry and more. But I also believe that mean people are mean because they are lacking love – loving others and themselves.

The bible gives us clear direction on love from Jesus in John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” and in Matthew 22:37-39 “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” These two scriptures alone set up the power of love. They tell us to love others and ourselves. They don’t tell us to go out and look for love being mean to one another until someone loves us.

Love appears over 400 times in the King James Version of the bible, it must be important. Jesus commands those that read the bible and call Him Lord to love others.

Does love make all of the sadness, poor homeless, hungry go away? Does love make the wealthy buy less, the politicians agree more, the criminals behave better? We know the answers to those. Will wars end because a general tells a battling general “I love you” or will a world leader tell another world leader “I love you” and suddenly these two countries are engaging in the best trade ever? Again, I think we know those answers. But what if each of us began loving one another? Does love have the ability to impact in such a way that your day becomes better knowing you are loved or that you love others? I say YES it does.

BIG STEP: if by loving others and ourselves day by day, would be life changing / world changing why not step out and do it?

BIGGER step: I know that many that read this blog are within a church or at least call themselves believers. How many “mean people” could be / would be changed if we ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

BIGGEST STEP: for those of you that do not have a relationship with Christ, look back at “BIG STEP.” But instead of looking at it as a question, put it into action. Begin by loving yourself right now. It doesn’t matter if you are broke or wealthy, it doesn’t even matter if you just literally yelled at your kids and spouse. You and I are not perfect and that’s okay we never will be. But we can love, love starting now with yourself. Sounds a bit crazy, but try this right now say out loud to yourself ” I love me.” Now again, but really mean it, accept yourself for whoever you are right now knowing that as love yourself more and love others even more you will become a catalyst for change everywhere you go. Now…. what comes after “biggest?” I am going to go with LIFE CHANGING… for those of you that do not have that loving relationship with Christ, but would like to start one – this is for you! Read the following out loud, hearing your voice has more impact: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.

Is it that easy to begin this relationship with Christ? YES, it is! Now, if you have made the decision to say this prayer – you are making a decision to call Him Lord of your life, if you have done this – please let me know – pastordenniswagner@gmail.com or find a family member or friend that would understand this decision and ask them what your next steps might be!

Let’s love one another – it cannot hurt!

Thanks for stopping by the fire,

Pastor Dennis