My dad used to say, “Lora, there’s an invisible magnifying glass in your hand. You can put it on yourself and your problems look real big. Or train that glass upon your Savior. Magnify the Lord. Everything gets in perspective.”
I pray Synod 2026 will be remembered for a magnifying glass put on Jesus and his gospel. I pray it will be recalled for a bigger vision and a burning focus.
We saw it in Zach King’s “Antioch moment” speech, reminding that because of Jesus, the CRC can have “the humble pivot” that moves mountains.
We saw it in Chad Steenwyk’s final message, to “preach Christ, who makes the dead live,” in our respective callings.
We saw it in the unified and applauding commitment around a 10-year plan that calls for every congregation to grow “disciple-making disciples” and every classis to plant churches.
And we saw it in worship, prayer huddles, and the gospel confessed from the floor. Jesus was magnified.
Acts 2 dreams surfaced in hallways and over cafeteria trays: can we ignite prayer groups in our churches toward this big vision? Can we do one-on-one discipleship? Could we plant one new church in every classis before the next World Cup?
Is this even possible? Will we actually pull together, in the horsepower gifts of the Spirit, toward a common vision?
Synod 2026 said, “We will, God helping us.”
Yet the skeptic in me resists, “Simmer down, Pollyanna! We’ve seen initiatives come and go.” Is this synod yet another sparkler—beautiful, bright, and quickly burnt out?”
Can this vision catch fire among our 49 classes and 900-some churches?
It depends where the magnifying glass is.
We must not put the magnifying glass on our own strength—our resources, wisdom, skills, or systems. We say “no” to pride.
Nor can we put it on our problems—vacant pulpits, empty pews, diminishing offerings. We say “no” to despair.
We look to a risen Lord! We come on our knees, in awe and need, before him. It is only because of Jesus that we can, as Tim Blackmon put it, “have a healthy disregard for the impossible.”
My son used a magnifying glass to focus sunlight onto wood. The concentrated light created enough heat to char and flame, leaving an indelible mark. (Our picnic table bears the proof!) The power wasn’t in the magnifying glass. The glass simply focused on what was already there.
We are the wood. (At times, even blockheads.) As our magnifying glass is on Jesus, the “Sun of righteousness,” his gospel beam is focused among us. This energy is not ours to manufacture; Jesus makes and sustains the flame.
Whether the vision of Synod 2026 catches fire will not be decided in Burlington or Grand Rapids. It will be decided in the basement prayer rooms of our ordinary churches. It will be decided around kitchen tables, in elder visits, in disciple-making Zoom calls and in councils willing to be all in for the gospel.
I agree with those who say God is up to something in the CRC. It won’t be easy. At times we will disappoint and hurt each other. At times we will fall short of the vision we strain toward.
But what a Lord! And what a gospel we proclaim: the “power of God unto salvation.” The power of God unto a new day in the CRC.
“Come, magnify the Lord with me.“
About the Author
Lora A. Copley is the editor of The Banner. She and her husband, Joel, have four children and worship at Trinity CRC in Ames, Iowa.