Not as original

Apparently this new blog name is not as original as we hoped. See the comment posted on a couple of entries previous...of course, at least we are on the right track!

The Sky is Falling

I'm reading a really interesting book right now called "The Sky is Falling" by Alan Roxburgh. Admittedly, it is already 3 years past its publishing date, but I think the ideas Roxburgh lifts up still hold true. One is that we must recognize that are living in a period of transition. The framework (or using the word I most often use, paradigm) out of which most of us come is no longer in operation. And it's not just one thing that got us here. In a very clear illustration, Roxburgh identified several contributing factors: globalization, post-modernism, economic insecurity, rapid technology change, and many others. These have combined to shake loose the predictable framework by which we live and work - and it is true for churches. 

This was the statement that really caught my attention. His contention is that "the generations that might cultivate a new kind of church are probably not even born yet." That means that even our youngest and brightest pastors, fully immersed in the postmodern context, are still captured in this time of transition - that the "new kind of church" we will become is still generations away. 

There is good Biblical basis for his contention. He points out Jeremiah's Israel - exiled for many years - returning to rebuild Jerusalem only when a second generation had been born. I think of the time Israel wandered in the desert. Those who began the journey never saw the end - only the descendants of those first refugees out of Egypt made it into the new land. 

So, what is our call, those of us living in this time of transition? If Roxburgh is correct, how can we be faithful to our own call as we negotiate our time in the wilderness? More over, as the old model of doing church and the arguments of conservative vs. liberal, modern vs. postmodern, traditional vs. contemporary, fall to the wayside, how can we continue to be a community of love and unity in the messiness of traveling on uneasy, unlevel ground?

I think part of the answer is not so much in trying to "solve" the problem of the church but to be willing to follow God into the wild - to trust that God goes before us and after us - and in God's time, a clear picture of the new land ahead will become clear.

What do you think?