Back to the Future
Too much of what we call Christianity has the future as a mirror of the past. Thinkers like GK Chesterton said in the late 19th century that “Christianity hasn’t been tried and found wanting, it’s been found difficult and not therefore not tried. In order to explore Christianity we have need to put long held beliefs to open challenge. Reformers like Wesley, Wilberforce, Martin Luther amongst many others in recent history did this. They had remarkable vision where the future was put at the service of the present as they challenged dead Christianity, slavery and rejected dead practices of the church.. Their risk taking became prime catalysts that drove the future from enemy to opportunity. The ability to define what may happen in the future and to choose amongst alternatives lies at the heart of the future of Christianity. One of the wisest men who ever lived said ‘Without vision the people perish’. Jesus said I only do what I ‘see’ my Father do. Jesus pulled from the future and was often redefining the past. Invite someone to take a closer look at Christ and his church and they and you might see the past redefined by the call of God from the future.
