Dear Friends,
It has been a week for change. Birth will change. Marriage will change. Death will change. Many of us will find all this terrifically difficult and unnerving. It reminds me of the great joke…
How many Anglicans does it take to change a lightbulb?
What! Change!! No thanks!!
Our society and culture undergoes constant change, sometimes more rapid, sometimes like the slow creep of a glacier. How do we respond? Yell? Scream? Ignore it? Weep? All of the above?
Here are a few observations made recently about our society and culture.
- Saturday afternoons and Sundays used to be family and community time, now they are almost indistinguishable from the rest of the week.
- Marriage used to be honoured by all but is now an optional extra.
- Children used to be cared for in the home but now much of their lives are out-sourced.
- The Bible used to be read on the ABC every night but now biblical thinking is censored in favour of hedonism and sensuality.
- People used to gather on the street in the afternoons to play and socialise, now we sit alone and watch TV and some even watch other people watching TV!
- The church used to be seen as a bastion for morality and social cohesion but now it’s an archaic immoral institution.
- Voluntary participation in community activities was strong but now sports clubs struggle to find helpers.
- Most disturbingly, there are a whole generation of children being raised who know of no connection between Easter, Christmas and Jesus.
You might say in summary that we Australians have become more consumerist and individualistic in our approach to life. And church. We have changed.
The right response to this is not to lament and have conversations that begin with the words “I remember the good old days!” The right response is to pray. To pray for ourselves and our friends who do not know Jesus that we would have the wisdom and courage to share Jesus with them.
What people need right now is to understand that there is more to life than what you see in this world and more to Jesus than you might have assumed.
Have you prayed this week for marriages?
Have you prayed this week for the terminally ill?
Have you prayed this week of our governments?
Have you prayed this week for church leaders?
The more things change, the more we must commit all things to our God in prayer.
For the more things change, the more things remain the same – Jesus is still on the throne and still rules really.
In Christ,
Nigel