PrintLiving in the Past, Present or Future
Bev and I have really enjoyed our recent overseas holiday which took us to Singapore, England, Spain, Italy and Greece. Each country had its own uniqueness that readily captured our attention.
However, there was one comparison that would not be denied and, for some unknown reason, it kept pushing itself at me. There is a buzz of energy about Singapore that I did not find in any other place. The people I met there are proud of their country and they are excited and visionary about their future. Construction sites are everywhere (or so it seemed) as they look to use the limited land resources of this island nation. This energy is all about now and the future.
By way of contrast, I found that the people in places like Italy and Greece seemed content to live in the diminishing glory of bygone eras and accomplishment. The successes, victories and achievements of their forebears were emphasized to the virtual exclusion of all else. If there was any suggestion about future options and possibilities, I missed them completely.
Then it hit me. I have noted similar contrasts in churches over the years. Some are buzzing with expectation and anticipation about what is happening now and, more so, what they are looking forward to in the future that God has for them. Others seem content to live in the glory of the "good old days" when church services were packed with people and the church was growing and there was a high level of excitement and anticipation. Talk with such people about their church and they will immediately switch to the past tense and tell you how great it used to be.
Given that churches are made up of individuals, I guess these dynamics relating to the past, present and future apply to individuals. The older I get the greater the temptation to live in the memories of those good old days when the sense of vision, anticipation and the presence of God seemed so much more real.
I recall saying to my wife some years back, "I don't want to fossilize. Until the day I die, I want to live on a cutting edge of some kind. An edge that won't let me live in the past tense. An edge that has a divine energy and vision about it. An edge that is grateful for those former days and the glory thereof. But an edge that is always looking for the new thing that God is doing.
