005 : A product of their time

It was a cold, wet day in February but I finally made a long awaited trip to London to do the museums. On arrival at Kings Cross I boarded a heavily overcrowded bus and crawled through nose-to-tail traffic to Cromwell Road, not far from Harrods and the famous Holy Trinity Brompton, HTB to its fans. Undaunted by the tube strike which caused so much disruption to London commuters, I enjoyed a much needed coffee as I planned my tour around the Natural History and Science Museums.

At the Science Museum I embarked upon a walk down Memory Lane as I looked at some of the great inventions of previous generations. Stephenson's Rocket was a reminder of Britain's genius in the field of steam locomotion. The early days of motor cars was aptly displayed by a Model T Ford and various other cars of yesteryear. Man's first excursions into outer space were depicted by the claustrophobic Russian space capsules and various American rockets. Then there were the Penny Farthing bicycle, old-style telephones, typewriters and many other items which were brilliant in their day but were clearly products of their time. Although the invention lives on, the products have evolved into modern-day equivalents which make their forefathers both crude and even ridiculous. Imagine carrying around one of the early mobile phones which resembled a brick more than its modern-day equivalent. And who in their right minds would ride a Penny Farthing through the London streets? For all his brilliance, Robert Stephenson would be amazed at how the Japanese have taken rail travel to new heights of speed and efficiency.

This all made me reflect on how the church has responded to modernisation. So much of what we do today is also a product of its time. Not wishing to ruffle feathers I have to say that for all his brilliance, Charles Wesley wrote a host of hymns in the style and language of his day. Some of his hymns are timeless and will be treasured and sung by many generations to come but increasingly, today's Christians are warming to the modern-day hymn-writing skills of Matt Redman and his peers. Should we be surprised or concerned at this? And what about the style of worship in some churches? Sitting on wooden pews facing towards the service leader who is dressed in a black gown and holds absolute authority is mirrored only by a law court in today's society. What picture of God does that portray to people of this generation? Not only that, but we deliver the gospel by preaching sermons. Again, we have brilliant preachers who work tirelessly to prepare and deliver excellent sermons but today's generation is wedded to a different media - visual, interactive and instant. Are some of the things we do in church today products of their time? 

In a recent survey by the British Marketing Research Bureau the following findings were discovered :

Ø The Nativity : 78 per cent of 16-24-year-olds saying they were not convinced of its historical reliability.

Ø Almost a quarter of those questioned who described themselves as Christians admitted they did not believe certain aspects of the Bible's teaching about Jesus.

A separate study by Mothers' Union showed that more parents encourage their children to believe in Father Christmas than in the nativity.

The Bible is viewed through highly critical eyes and people today give far less weight to people in authority, be they preachers, policemen, judges or politicians. So why do we continue to do church in a manner which assumes a high degree of biblical knowledge and acceptance. Why do we still deliver the gospel message by word of mouth only? Is it wrong to question our tenacious hold on yesterday's traditions? The newly appointed head of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, has a daunting task following on from the entrepreneurial Bill Gates and the mercurial Steve Ballmer. On taking up the reins he said "our industry does not respect tradition – it only respects innovation”. Is that true in the church or do we give too much weight to tradition at the expense of engaging with today's generation and pioneering new forms of church?

There's no doubt that the men and women behind the amazing inventions I saw in the Science Museum were brilliant and visionary. But technology has evolved at a rapid pace and drives the way in which we live. The longer the church remains wedded to the past, the greater will be the gulf between church culture and the culture of people we brush shoulders with day by day. 

It will take courage and enterprise on the part of church leaders to embrace the challenges we face in this country. It will involve a great deal of heart-searching on the part of members, especially the older ones, to allow them to move the church forward in the 21st century. Where does your church stand in these exciting but challenging days?

But here's the rub. We are where we are today because of the skill, dedication and risk-taking of yesterday's entrepreneurs whose goods are displayed in the Science Museum and fondly remembered by like-minded people today. I'm sure they would be the first to say to this generation, "don't keep looking back but build on what we have done and move forward". Are we simply going to look back with admiration on past achievements or emulate their endeavours for the sake of tomorrow's generation? Ask yourself, "does the future have a church and, if so, what will it look like?"