Presbyterian Devotions: Latest Trends

Acts 17:21       All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.

One major issue that has always faced the Church is how to successfully present a First Century message in whatever century that is current. For example, the initial Christian scriptures were not written in Galilean Hebrew or Roman Latin, they were composed in common mercantile Greek, which practically every Mediterranean community spoke. Throughout the next couple of centuries, the church took on the structure and bureaucracy of the Roman Empire to institutionalize its message and ministries.

Later on, during the Dark Ages, churches specialized in reading and writing in order to maintain civilization. Stories of local people were Christianized and pagan festivals were churchified,  in order to make the Gospel message relevant. As the Church grew, artisans and masons were employed to design and build magnificent cathedrals with stained glass windows, which were used as holy cartoons to tell Biblical stories to the masses of illiterate people.

When the printing press was invented, Christianity underwent the Reformation producing thousands of pamphlets, leaflets, hymn books and bibles to spread its message and educate the people. And in the time of the industrial revolution and colonial expansion, the Church became an advocate of social justice and mission with a message for all classes of people, all over the world.

Today, we have the internet and once again the church is faced with a glorious opportunity of presenting the Gospel message using the latest technology and communication tools. Email, websites, blogs, podcasts, videocasts, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and Apps are all being employed by many churches to market their congregation and get Christ’s Good News out to the world. We live in remarkable times and instead of rejecting the latest trends, we should be finding ways to embrace and Christianize them. More than a decade ago, the Church began the Emergent movement which was an offshoot of contemporary communicative culture. Now we’re beyond emergent and heading into a time that’s called Resurgent Church, where the message of old is being broadcast, spread, and experienced in 21^st century ways.

I’m excited about the future of the Church and totally hopeful of what lies ahead, so long as we remain faithful to the original message and don’t let the culture change Christ’s teaching. The ways in which we express and share the Gospel may constantly change, but as Jesus Himself once said, “Heaven and Earth may pass away, but My Word will remain forever.” (Matthew 24 v35)

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, we live in truly remarkable times and we thank You for the many wonderful ways in which Your Gospel can be broadcast and shared to the entire world. Help us to use and employ these new ways to expand Your Kingdom, so that many others throughout this planet may know of God’s love. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.