How to Respond?

Change is happening all around us. The culture seems to be changing at a rapid pace. Facebook, Twitter, the Droid, Kindle, iPods, iPhones, iPads...I can't keep up!

Don't get me wrong. I like technology. I loved it when the first arcade game of Space Invaders came out in the late 70's. Now you can bring the arcade home with your PlayStation, Game Cube, Wii, or Xbox. I've tried to keep up with audio-visual technology. I adjusted from LP's to 8-tracks to cassettes to CD's, and now it's mp3's. I've also gone from VHS tape to DVD to BluRay disc.

I am a fan of innovation but oftentimes I get to a point where I am comfortable with what I know and so I don't bother to try and keep up. I say it's "good enough" and I stay the same. This is a mentality that many churches have. We find false security in always staying the same. We bow to the altar of tradition and think we are doing things the way God wants. We think we are doing things right. But my question is - "Are we doing the right things?"

Part of our problem is that we assume that God stopped creating after the sixth day. The Bible says that He "rested", not that He quit being creative or innovative. God is constantly doing new things. Our mindset should be to find out where God is at work and join Him, but too often we get it backwards. We want God to bless what we are doing and it might not even be in His will.

The church is not called to maintain the status quo. Think about it - if we are, Jesus would not have said things like: "You have heard it said...but I say unto you..." (Matthew 5:38-48). Jesus also said in Luke 5:37, that no one pours new wine into old wineskins because they will break.

The definition of insanity is to always keep doing the same things you've always done and expect different results. As the culture around us continues to change, Christians should be in prayer to see where the spirit of God might be hovering and wanting us to join Him.