Cultivating a Redemptive Imagination
The idea of the redemptive imagination is to look at the broken fabric of lives and society around us and to see something else. Re-imagining what it would look like if the Kingdom of God broke into our possibility. To build our own redemptive imagination, we have to imagine what possibility does God has for us in our everyday life.
Redemptive work is so important for us as Christians right now in the environments that we spend more time in than anywhere else. This could be in the workplace, our vocations, place of study, or in the home. These are the places that we get to create the world in which we inhabit, and where we get to interact with the values, world views and perspectives of others. It is in some of these places that we spend most of our time and learn, and experience life – the good and the bad.
However, in an ever evolving society of radical change, a lot of societal progress is actually being defined without the gospel in mind. Together, if we can cultivate a redemptive imagination with the gospel and bring this mindset into a lot of the settings we are already in or leading, then we get the privilege of leading what’s not good, into something that is good, with the “good news”.
But first, I think that we need to reintroduce the ideas and principles of the Kingdom of God, as I think we are missing the power behind the knowledge of it – so when we pray “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” we know that we are operating in the power of it, through Jesus Christ. Then we can take flight in the promises and purposes of God’s Kingdom and influence change around us.
We live in a world that is really crying out for change, although most people are less interested in hearing the gospel, and are more interested in seeing it lived out and how it is embodied in our communities and daily life. It is Gods desire to manifest his wisdom and nature on the earth, through us.
It is vital for us to understand our place in God’s kingdom, which gives us understanding in our vocations (work), the place where God has put us. I also believe that we need to change our mindset and see how we are a “gift” from God to those around us, especially in our workplaces. This can feel so counter-intuitive to us in our environments, but we have all been given the tools, talents and mandate to bestow on the world, God’s richness of character and grace.
Just imagine what possibilities you could create for someone, or the change and impact you could make when you try something a little different using your redemptive imagination and God breaks in. There will be sacrifices, just like how Jesus laid down his life to restore mankind to God. This is how we partake in redemptive work, as the hands and feet of Jesus, with commitment to break out a new possibility for the kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.
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