One of the important missions of the church is to provide an “alternate world” through which people can experience their realities. We do so by providing a different language by which meaning and purpose is seen.
A primary source of that different language is provided by reading Scripture which comes from a different time and speaks to a different purpose in life. But the language of community which emerges out of our faith also speaks to an alternate world. By speaking of a transcendent reality, we remind ourselves that there is more to life than what we see.
By emphasizing relationships over economic realities, we suggest a different way to measure life. By choosing reconciliation over victory, we expose a different set of values. By choosing sacrifice over personal gain, we point to a transcendent reality. By choosing faithfulness over success, we reveal a different Lord which can be served.