Coffee With The Lord

Early adopters in technology take a risk… They buy what is called a “beta version” and have to put up with every “bug” and problem that the developers of the product overlooked and missed. Every once in a while they’ll even encounter a “fatal error.”  Those who are wise usually wait awhile for the “bugs” to be worked out… Watch out if the version reads something like 1.0.0

On the other hand there are those that are myopically stuck in the past.  So stuck in fact that there is no progress, no desire for progress, no vision, no view to the future.  Can you imagine a guy still trying to use a computer that requires two “floppies” (no hard drive), DOS, and is trying to get by with WordPerfect 4.0? (Believe it or not, I know a guy like that.)

Both problems exist in Christianity!

One person is so much into the innovative, and new thing, that they swallow every emerging doctrine, worship innovation, and “revival” fad uncritically.  They have no appreciation for “church history” or the wise counsel of “elders.” What they buy into is “beta” – “cutting edge”, dangerous – and filled with “bugs” (even “fatal errors”). And a few years later they are wounded, disillusioned, and perhaps even no longer serving the Lord.

The other person is stuck in what for them is safe and secure.  They lack vision, faith and a forward impulse.  Their brand of Christianity shows signs of mold and you can almost smell the mothballs that are designed to protect it.  If these people are not careful they’ll marginalize the gospel and relegate serving the Lord to simply an isolated, self-occupied, sect.

So what is the best course of action? I think “healthy innovation with an appreciative eye to the past.”

In fact, I read these healthy words in the Bible this morning… “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls!’  But they said, ‘We will not walk in it! … We will not pay attention!’” (from Jeremiah 6:16-17)

It brought the words of an old hymn to mind:

“Faith of our fathers, living still,
In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword; 
Oh, how our hearts beat high with joy 
Whene’er we hear that glorious Word!

Refrain: 
Faith of our fathers, holy faith! 
We will be true to thee till death!

Faith of our fathers, we will strive
 To win all nations unto thee;
 And through the truth that comes from God, 
We all shall then be truly free.

Faith of our fathers, we will love
 Both friend and foe in all our strife; 
And preach thee, too, as love knows how
 By kindly words and virtuous life.” (Frederick W. Faber, 1849)

So here’s the deal… I’m not going to buy into “beta version” of Christianity … on the other hand I purpose not be myopically stuck in the past!