Evangelism Bulletin 237 – Stuck in the Past?

An Old Testament verse I often quote is Isaiah 51 verse 1 which says ‘Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug’. Different translations render this verse in different ways but the gist of it for me is that our present is shaped by our past. The chapter goes on to remind the Israelites how God had been at work in the lives of their ancestors and would continue that work in the present and future, if they remained faithful.

We are told that Skegness has been urged to change its name because of the negative image associated with its present name. For me that’s unthinkable. Skeggy will always be Skeggy, no matter what they call it in the future. But for the hoteliers whose trade is suffering because of its poor image, it seems a reasonable option.

Kodak, the once renowned, market-leading giant, which was synonymous with all things photographic have now filed for bankruptcy protection. The chief reason is that it failed to take the digital age seriously. They proudly display their once-famous Brownie 127 or Instamatic and despite attempts to bring out cameras in different colours and selling fashion accessories to match (a bit like iPads with their coloured cases), the tide towards digital is unstoppable and they have been left behind.

I remember many years ago in the computer industry how the world’s number 2 manufacturer, DEC, refused to recognise an up-and-coming operating system and, despite having their own brilliant equivalent, their refusal to move with the times cost them dearly.

We hear news that Nottingham Forest are gearing up for life in League 1 by considering the sale of some of their top players (I use the work ‘top’ loosely). For a long time they have been a team with a great future behind them. We could look at institutions like the Post Office and libraries and ask serious questions about their future because of the rapid changes taking place in society and technology.

So – what about the church? The picture accompanying this bulletin depicts a Methodist Church which, in its day, was packed to the seams with worshippers but is now closed. How do we decide in this day of declining church attendance which church buildings to release and which to keep and invest money in for the future? Of course, we are all aware that closing a church building is not the same as closing a church because the faith community still remains – it’s just their meeting place which has become unsustainable.

We have all sat in church buildings during a worship service and asked questions about its appeal to outsiders. What do people think when they cross the threshold of a Victorian building in order to attend a sevice? Do they think they are being forced into a time warp? Do they think that God is a 19th century being who has never really come to terms with the modern age. The hymns that are sung, the language that is used, the furniture people site on and look at all speak about an age gone by.

And yet, cathedrals are experiencing a renaissance. People flock to them as tourists, and some may do the same as pilgrims. We’re off to Budapest soon and will visit the many baroque churches in the city. It’s not the same for a visitor coming to Nottingham or Derby and visiting the warehouse-style buildings occupied by some new-stream churches and yet these are the churches which are growing numerically. The sale of telescopes has increased by 400% since Prof. Brian Cox, the rock star turned scientist, has been presenting his Star Gazing programmes. We still see people driving around in VW Beetles and Mini Coopers, cars which have long-since been replaced by modern equivalents. What a dilemma!

As the verse from Isaiah says, our identity is shaped by the past. But we need to recognise that our future lies firmly in the future which, for most of us, is an unknown. But to God …