This morning I volunteered to help out with my son's school fundraiser. The fundraiser was a recycle day when people could bring their old junk that has probably sat in their garages or their yards for years and get rid of it for a donation fee. I said I would volunteer from 8-12 today and it was quite a workout. It was amazing the stuff that people had to get rid of and what else was amazing was some of the things that people were getting rid of. The main thing that people got rid of today was television sets. There were a few flat screens, but most of the sets that were brought were the big, heavy tube sets. You know what sets I'm talking about, the ones that are covered in plastic that don't look heavy until you actually pick them up. Most of the sets that were dropped off had to be lifted by at least of two of us volunteers. It was quite the workout and I go to the gym three days a week.
What struck me about these televisions is that only a decade ago (or maybe a little more) these sets were considered state of the art. These were coveted possessions. One person dropped off one of the first HD tvs that was probably the heaviest one that we lifted today. What once was state of the art was now junk.
When I got home, I was folding some laundry and praying (I do that sometimes not because the laundry is that bad, but it is one of the few quiet moments that I have in the day) and the lesson of the day struck me. I was praying that God would continue to give me and my church wisdom on how to adapt the Gospel to the different people in our community. While I was praying this, I thought about the junk that people brought to get rid of today. I thought that why are we so wise to get rid of the junk that sits in our houses because it is obsolete or not functional, but in the church we hold on to things that clearly are obsolete and are no longer functional? Looking at these televisions, you could not pay someone to take them home and use them today. Why use a heavy, outdated tv when you could buy a new one that is lighter and state of the art? But, when it comes to church, we still like to hold onto our old "tvs" because somewhere in our brains we think they still work.
Discipleship has been on my mind a lot lately. I want to be a disciple who makes disciples. I pray for wisdom to share the Gospel in any way that I can. I pray for wisdom because I know that the presentation has to change depending on the person and circumstance. And, I pray for wisdom because some of the methods I employed in the past may not work anymore. Those methods might be ready for a recycle day or just straight to the junk pile. The message itself does not change, but the methods we employ have to.
I understand why we want to hold onto things. Some things are nostalgic, reminding us of the past. If we let them go, we think that we are letting go of the past. But, there are some things that we need to let go of because they belong in the past. They can't exist in the present or the future because they were meant for the time they existed in. This is why we need to pray for wisdom so that we can know what things belong in the past and what things are timeless. The Gospel is timeless, but some of the ways we have presented the Gospel are not. Some of those methods used to be state of the art, but time has passed them by and that is OK! There are methods we employ now that will be obsolete a few years down the road and that is OK!
Our culture and society is changing rapidly. Generations are changing rapidly. The church is not. We are struggling to catch up. We are trying to hold onto the programs that worked in the past, but maybe it's time to let them go because those programs may be bogging us down and holding us back, keeping us from experiencing what God wants to do through us. I want to be a disciple who makes disciples, no matter what they may look like with any given person or situation. I want to be like Paul and become all things to all men so that they may experience Jesus in a way they will understand.
What "tvs" are you holding onto? Is it time to junk them? Let us listen to the Holy Spirit and be all things to all men.
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