We have spent years praying into and crafting our vision for St. Peter’s Fireside. It’s not that vision statements are the be all and end all. Our vision statement solely exists to keep us focused, to help us discern where we are going, and to help us gauge if we are getting off track.
We recently made an addition to our vision statement. It now reads, “Our vision is to see the renewal of Vancouver, spiritually, socially, and culturally through communities transformed by the gospel, all to the glory of God.” It is a crucial revision, and its placement at the end of our vision statement isn’t to say that it’s the last thing we want to see, but it is the thing we long to see in all that we do.
So, why did we add “all to the glory of God”?
Well, we added it mainly to keep us focused. The statement without it, states what we hope to see happen, and the means by which we hope for it to happen. Or in normal language, the renewal of the city is what we hope to see happen through communities where lives are transformed and reoriented by the gospel. But that statement alone can leave us thinking that the renewal of the city alone is the end goal of our communities, and that is hardly what we intend.
The end goal is that everything we do—from the personal transformation we experience in the gospel to seeking the renewal of the city, from going to bed to getting up in the morning and brushing our teeth—is to do it all for the glory of God. We want to make much of God and his greatness and we want to boast in him and not ourselves (1 Cor. 1:29; 2 Cor 10:17; 2 Cor 12:9; Gal 6:14). It is all too easy to start focusing on our own talents, milestones, goals, and to hope as an after-thought that they bring God glory. It is another thing altogether to let God’s glory motivate and guide our talents, milestones and goals.
At this point, it may be helpful to be more specific about what the glory of God is: The glory of God is the heavenly radiance, loftiness, majesty, honour, splendour, and power of God. In other words, the glory of God is God’s beauty on display. Creation brings glory to God when everything is recalibrated and reorganized so that it displays the radiance of God’s beauty. Everything—rocks, birds, trees, mountains, oceans, the air, sea creatures, the stars, blackholes—absolutely everything was meant to sing the praises of God’s glory (Ps. 19). Everything was created to to rejoice in the beauty of God’s love, and everything ultimately finds its true meaning and purpose in the glory of God.
Longing to see everything that we’ve done all to the glory of God is what sets us apart from other efforts of renewal within the city. There are plenty of humanitarian efforts to improve the city. Seeking the welfare of all is very much a part of Vancouver’s ethos. But in a way, the end goal is simply a better city, and better lives for everyone within the city. Obviously this is hardly a bad goal, and there is much to be affirmed about these efforts. But for us, our end goal isn’t simply a renewed city, as good as that will be. Our end goal is that everything, absolutely everything we do brings glory to God.
As we seek to build a community that is centered around, grounded upon, and transformed by the gospel we do so to bring God glory. As lives are transformed by the gospel—the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus—we praise God’s glory, because the gospel is the glory of God on display and at work (2 Cor. 4:4; 2 Thess 2:14). As our community seeks the spiritual, social, and cultural renewal of the city of Vancouver, we do so to bring glory to God. As we start to see the arts and marketplace changed by the gospel, we will praise God’s glory. As Paul writes, “whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).
Of course this rubs against our longing and proclivity to live for ourselves, or to live for our own objectives and goals. But it is precisely because of how self-centered we are that we have added “all to the glory of God” to our vision statement. It is not simply about becoming better people, or seeking a better city. It’s not about us at all. It’s about God. We were made to bring God glory, and we are most fully alive—and indeed most fully human—when we are doing so.
The single, driving motivator for St. Peter’s Fireside is the glory of God. If we are ever doing something that can’t bring glory to God, or if we are ever doing something where the goal isn’t bringing glory to God, we will have gotten radically off track from the vision we feel God entrusted to us, and the vision that marks the entire canon of Scripture. We will only find our true purpose, our true meaning, our true vocation and calling when we realize that this is not about us, it’s about God.
