Change

I have an interesting vantage point. I work with the first real youth of this historical age. I see the millennial generation, and the world on the great swing blade of change as Modernism fades into memory and Postmodernism takes hold. This is the generation that will see their lives change in so many radical ways. The very way they live will be forever altered. Religion is no different. It will change too.

This is not new. The Bible has changed through the years. Scriptures were once recorded on scrolls. These holy documents were kept in temples and read and interpreted. We see Jesus many times reading from the Bible in this format.

The Bible as we know it wasn't compiled until a few centuries after Jesus' death and resurrection. The church took the holy writings, both Jewish and Christian, and developed a canon. They determined what was in and what was out. This wasn't a cut and dried thing. Different books came and left the Bible for a thousand years before the current standard was set.

This collective process has caused controversy through the years. What standards were used was often called into question. The very format of the Bible being bound into a large, hand-printed book was a radical shift from scrolls. It made the Word of God much more portable and much easier to spread. Jews kept their scrolls locked away. These new Christians wanted to spread their new bound books far and wide. That was CHANGE!!!

The next major shift came around 1500 when Guttenberg’s printing press made bibles much easier to obtain and much cheaper. The rise of literacy rates also raised demand for bibles printed in native languages. This was a major factor in the Reformation that forever altered the look of the church and they way people worshipped.

In the 1900s we saw renewed interest in the study of historical text and the creation of dozens and dozens of translations. The logic minded rational scholars of the Bible wanted to find the most accurate version they could. This created all sorts of change and conflict. There are KJ only people and NIV people and those who think the Message isn't a Bible at all. Some people believe in magic Bible Codes and others that the NRS stands for New Revised Slander. All these things came and went as the cycle of change occurred.

Change is still going on today. In the postmodern age, the Bible has gone digital. I use bible gateway more than a paper bible. Some would see this as a bad thing. It is just the Scriptures adapting with the times. But the Bible is still the Bible no matter what packaging it comes in. The Truth that it holds for our lives is still true no matter if its rolled in a tube, kept in a book or downloaded onto your PC. God is big, his arms wide, wide enough to wrap around any historical age. Those who doubt the Lord's authority in this age are limiting God's power... and that is a very silly thing to do. God is in control.

Some people fight change. Most often they are political ideologues, hard-line fundamentalists, lovers of the status quo, or people who prosper financially from the old way. Change is scary. It is a treat. But change is what keeps the church alive. Over and over again, through out the ages, movements have come that reformed the way the Church looks and works and serves the people.

I love the Church. I want to see it grow and flourish and meet the needs of the millennial generation. To do this its going to have to change. It will never lose its roots in the truth that Jesus Christ sets us free from sin by His death on the Cross. But how it is organized and how it functions will change just as it did in Luther's day and so many other times. Postmodernism wont go away even will we pretend like it isn't there or that the people who embrace it are bad guys.

And what about those people who are served well by the traditional church? Of course I wish those people the best. I pray that they may find what they need and be content. May they eat and drink there and get their fill. But for those seekers, those which I feel so drawn to, for them I will continue to investigate the Church that is emerging in this new century. And in this age of endless possibilities, let us lay down our conflicts with each other and move forward for the Kingdom. I love Jesus Christ and work every day for the cause of spreading His Gospel. I love the Church and will watch as it continues its march through time.