Dreams Come True

Being a Floridian, I have traveled many times into the heart of Orlando and imagination to the realm of Disney World. One might even say that I am royalty, given that my sister is Cinderella, Rapunzel, and now, to my disdain, Elsa, at Disney World. Therefore, the experience of going to Disney is very clear to me.

You walk in, down a picturesque street with cute little shops on either side as you approach Cinderella's Castle. (Not Elsa's mind you.) As you cross the gently rising-and-downward sloping bridge you come into a square of sorts. Turn right and you can get your Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream or your delicious chicken strips, but you ought to find yourself first a good spot for the welcome show.

After much anticipation the show will begin. The main cast of characters come dancing around the stage, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto. Next come all the princesses with their princes as well as Peter Pan himself. They dance and sing, bringing joy to us all. Then come various villains; Maleficent, Captain Hook, and the like. But take heart! Mickey defeats them. Soon thereafter, this giant mouse begins encouraging everyone to repeat the phrase, "Dreams come true!" relentlessly. On and on we all continue. This mouse commands our attention and for a brief moment, you almost believe you can throw that game winning touchdown or finally land on the face of the sun.

Doubtlessly, many in the church wish that uttering the phrase "Dreams come true!" would make it so. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that and if it did, well that would be a kingdom whose reward lacked eternity. If Mickey were challenged on this front, I'm sure he would answer encouragingly, with good advice, and a kind heart; this is not to challenge that respectable mouse. It is only to say that in his book, Interactive Excellence, Edwin Schlossberg notes that our church must go deeper than the theme park experience is where I agree most.

Mr. Schlossberg argues that we cannot be true to ourselves while submitting to this regime as it does not give us the ability to truly participate in the kingdom of Disney. We are merely watching these royal princesses dance about as we silently wish we were them.

In the kingdom of God, our King grants us the ability to participate. He would replace "Dreams come true!" with any number of things he said, such as "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you..." or "I am the vine, and you are the branches..." which both lead us to action in the knowledge of his kingdom.

As the church, we must rightly communicate that Jesus gives us the responsibility, privilege, and ability to participate in his grace by sharing his good news with the world. Disney is a magical kingdom, no doubt. But the King who we serve empowers us to a great work. We must, in turn, guide those we know to know this King who has granted us a great gift to participate in his Kingdom.