TIMES ARE CHANGING
We live in a changing world. Within the last one hundred years we have come through the Age of Agricultural, the Industrial Revolution, and now we stand in the middle of the Information Age.
In 1917, you could purchase a Model T automobile for $850, and within three years the price had fallen to $300. It was powered by a hand-cranked, four cylinder engine that produced 20 horse power, with a maximum speed of 45 mph. Today, you can spend $80,000 for a Chevrolet Corvette that’s powered by a 6.2L liter engine with 650 horse power. We’ve gone from the Red Baron and Eddie Rickenbacker airplanes made of canvas and wood, reaching a top speed of 100 mph with a tail wind, to a Gulfstream G550 jet with two Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofan engines, reaching speeds exceeding 550 mph with or without a tail wind. In addition, we want our computers to be as fast as that Gulfstream G550; small enough to hold in our hand, answer all our telephone calls, emails, text messages, and still take a photograph.
This changing world has had a great impact on the church as well. Today, the church no longer has the influence on society that it once had. Remember a time when the public school calendar dared not clash with traditional church service times? Church has become more of an option than a necessity. Our society doesn’t seem to care if we approve or disapprove of life changing issues. We have answers to life’s problems but no one is asking us questions.
While the world we live in seems to be in constant transition, let’s not forget that the message of Good News hasn’t changed. It’s still the best thing on the planet. There are things within the infrastructure of the church that may need to change in order to meet the needs of a changing society, but never at the expense of the message. God does not change! He’s still the same, yesterday, today, and forever!
Mal 3:6, “I the LORD do not change” (NIV), is our heavenly lighthouse. While riding the rough seas of life in a changing world, keep that lighthouse within eyesight.
That’s my view of things.