Ah, 1989…the year I drove a 1979 Olds Cutlass Supreme (with
vinyl top!)…the year I ran cross country to keep the basketball coach off my back...the year I received my high school diploma…the year my manager at
Pamida tried to talk me out of going to college…the year I headed off to
Northwestern University to start my journey towards my career as an
actuary. Times have changed!
1989 also brought about Back to the Future II. Following up on the success of the first
movie where Marty McFly headed to the past, this ‘classic’ headed twenty six
years into the future, to that far-off year of 2015. The writers had some playful ideas of the
world would look like and in some ways they were surprisingly correct! Think about what we have now:
1. Holographic/3-D movies – They are now
commonplace.
2. ‘Wearable computers’ – In the movie
they looked like a clunky version of Google Glass, but let’s face it, the way
we use our phones these days we’re pretty much wearing them!
3. Computers that take orders using voice
control – Can you say ‘Siri?’
4. News footage recorded by drones – Heck,
drones can even deliver beer to ice-fishermen these days!
5. Video Chat – Actually, our version is WAY
better that Marty’s!
6. Video games that don’t require controllers
– Bring out the Wii!
This isn’t to say they got everything correct. I’m still waiting for my hovercar and no, the
Cubs STILL have not won the World Series.
Fortunately for me, Marty McFly
just rang the doorbell. Why don’t I hop
into his Delorean, set the clock to January 9, 2031, and let you know what I
find. Back in a minute with the full
report.
Wow, that was amazing!
If you’ve never done time travel, I highly recommend it.
I won’t bore you with the technology advances, other than to
say that Star Trek isn’t far off! As a ‘church
guy, ‘ I was most interested to see what Christ’s church will look like around
the time that I’m ready to retire. Here
are some highlights.
1. Despite all the pessimism of 2015, Christ’s
church will be alive and well – Back in 2015 blogs and articles talked
about the many ways that the church was dying.
I found it didn’t die (and with Christ as the head of the church, I
doubted it would), but it did look much different.
2. The Christian Church will become a truly counter-cultural
movement – By 2031 people will be a part of communities of faith because
they choose to do so, not because anyone expects them too. Frankly, those who make that choice will be
seen as a bit ‘odd.’ Christian
communities will gain followers, not by preaching on street corners or flooding
the air-waves, but by caring for those in need.
Christians will be viewed as servants, not as ‘Bible thumpers.’
3. ‘Organized religion’ will have little sway
over the political conversations.
The number of elected officials who claim affiliation with a faith
tradition will plummet, with church leaders no longer able to dominate the
national conversations. The hot button
issues of 2015 (abortion and homosexuality) will be a distant memory as new,
secular political leaders come to the fore.
Small, faith based groups will grow
increasingly shrill in their discourse, but over time they will become fringe
groups and easily ignored.
4. Money collected within the communities of
faith will go into serving the community – Members of these Christian
communities will get excited about the ways that they make a difference in the
lives of the poor, outcast, and hurting.
5. Very few trained pastors will service an
increasing number of communities of faith – With money going to the
community and not a local congregation, this shift will become necessary. The idea that a congregation must have its
own pastor will disappear as impractical and expensive. Most communities of faith will have a local leader
with limited training who will not view this as a career but as a calling in
the midst of daily life. The pastor’s
role will be to train and equip these local leaders.
6. Churches will become smaller, more
intimate, and meet in people’s homes – With notable exceptions of a few large
cathedral style congregations, most communities of faith will no longer have
the means (or desire) to meet in church buildings. They will meet in neighborhoods and community
centers. A community of 50 people will
be seen as quite large and may lead to a division into two communities of 25
people each.
7. Local communities will gather out of a need
for community, not out of a need for doctrinal purity - People of many
different Christian traditions will gather in local communities and will not
try to decide which ‘denomination’ they should be. They
will wrestle with hard questions of faith without having to come to a simple
resolution. The need for support and
community in the midst of a journey of Christian faith will trump these issues
of doctrine.
8. Denominational affiliations will be quite
loose and increasingly irrelevant – The national structures that will be in
place will be the ones focused on serving those in need (i.e. Lutheran World
Relief). There will be much more local
autonomy, leading to a merging of many denominations into a general ‘Christian
Community’ that includes a wide range of Christians traditions and backgrounds.
The 2031 world I saw looked vastly different from what I’m
experiencing in 2015, but the Holy Spirit will still be active and the Gospel
will still be proclaimed. The day of the
‘Christian nation’ will come to an end, but throughout history Christ’s church
has thrived when it hasn’t had political or economic clout.
Bring on the future!
With Christ leading the way, we’ll be just fine!
Oh, and by 2031 the Cubs STILL will not have won the World
Series. Sorry, Cub’s fans…
What about our big buildings? I'd like to turn our Sunday School rooms into dormitory temp housing!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant! I love it.
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