Occasionally, perhaps I should write, frequently, the pace of change in my life nearly overwhelms me. I'm not talking about the normal stuff that everybody deals with in the process of growing older. We call have to deal with aching joints, a little more difficulty getting a good night's sleep, and other physical ailments not suitable for discussion in this TFTD. (smile!) The changes to which I refer are the changes in the world around us. Jerry and Karen are missionaries that spent the last four years in ministry on a remote island in the Pacific. It's not like they lived completely out of touch. They had email and they made trips to Australia. But when they settled back here in the States for this year of deputational work with their supporting churches, they were astonished at the amount of change - social and technological - that had occurred just since 2002! Those of us who live with it, don't really notice it because it happens all around us.
While I'm happy about the amazing amount of information available at the click of a button on the Internet, at the ease with which I can pay my bills online, and my TIVO; I'm trying to come to grips with things like - new attitudes towards venerable institutions like the Church, with philosophical shifts that regard 'truth' as a construct of one's experience rather than a revelation from God, with growing contempt for social responsibility and the rule of law. Perhaps I am just becoming an old geezer in love with yesterday, but I openly admit that because of these changes, I do not believe my grandchildren will live in a safer, better, or more prosperous world than the one in which I live. This isn't just about a new form of music or a different style of hair - the things that differentiated my generation. My children have grown up in a new world!
For example, a high value of our American society is autonomy. We've always valued our personal freedom, but in the past, we recognized that freedom is not limitless. Our freedom was expressed within boundaries - marriage, the rule of laws, the need for self-sacrifice for the greater good. The young adult who has grown up into the world of 2006, believes that he should be free to choose his own road without those boundaries. He believes he should be able to have sex with whomever he chooses, that he should enjoy nearly limitless civil rights, that the law should adapt to his needs, that he has the right to create 'god' in his own image! The results of this radical shift in values is becoming evident in things like a soaring birthrate of children born outside of a stable home, children who are much more likely to live in poverty and to engage in criminal behavior as they mature. Our schools are finding their task more difficult, in part, because of lack of discipline that comes with disrespect for rules and authority. That disrespect is fueled by the radical ideas of freedom held by the parents of today's students.
Sharing the gospel of Christ is more and more challenging. Where once I could make a reasonable case for the truth of Christ and His message, today that approach is seen by many as quaint. People don't think that they need to trust Jesus as Lord because He is the Truth. The bottom line for many is instead, 'how does He make me feel?' Doctrine, even for many Christians, is irrelevant. What is important is being happy, feeling comforted, 'good vibrations.'
So, how do we respond to these kinds of change?
Some retreat into yesterday's traditions. They form little communities of like-minded people who enshrine the rites and rituals that bring them comfort. They increasingly lose touch with the world, but they are comforted.
Others become militant, angry at the world. They choose a cause and focus on it as a way of protesting change and blocking out their own sense of displacement. Still others join the party! They see the changes as inevitable and irresistible.
I believe we must see ourselves as those who are commissioned by Christ to 'go into all the world and preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God.' This demands that we work to understand that world, that we are engaged with it, while not becoming compromised by it. Our hearts must be full of passion for God, fired by the Spirit. Our minds must be sharp, honed by the Word of God, with the insight given by the Spirit. Jesus said of His followers - "You are the light of the world... let your light shine...so others will praise your Father in heaven."
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