Thanks!
We know you’ve been running hard. Dealing with fatigue! Balancing worlds that don’t balance well.
Last week Mark Teike pointed us forward on the journey toward understanding and acting upon racial prejudice and racial reconciliation.
“In 2020 believers started to act their way into a new way of thinking…a new level of followership…”
from The Church in 2030
Some months ago we described the future church with its Lighter Backpack of programs and a new vibrant church over the horizon. To be honest we just didn’t think it would come this quickly or be this difficult.
It’s changed my life. Reconnected my faith. I’d recommend it to anyone. It’s showing me how to have an impact in others with the love of Christ.
A 1000 YoungLeader
The Church in 2030: Lighter Backpacks
But, there’s good news in 2030 of a small, vibrant, emerging Christian church in the U.S. It’s certainly the work of the Spirit breathing breath into dry bones (Ezekiel 37). But it’s also because some leaders in some churches began to invest in a different future a decade ago.
The Church in 2030
In 2030, there are scattered exceptions of congregations that have defied the harsh winds of change in our culture.
They are “God’s chosen people who are living like foreigners” (1 Peter 1:1) in a country that’s hostile toward Christians.
The backpack they carry is light. It used to be filled with church programs for men and women. Youth and children. Bureaucracies. Buildings. Worship services. Bible studies. Board meetings.
What has emerged is…
- A crazy willingness for adventure while living like the “chosen foreigners” in the U.S.
- A willingness to embrace the ambiguous and trust the Holy Spirit to lead and guide.
- A trained confidence that God can be trusted to provide and protect.
- Energy. Enthusiasm. A deep and abiding faith that comes with being on the outside.
- A deep devotion to the Word of God and the central person of Jesus.
- Relationships are everything. Believers depend upon each other.
- Consumerism has left the building.
…all of it starting to emerge.
Right on! And it will be much more diverse and strategic. At first intentionally and then normally small clusters of Christians from different ethnic groups will commit to making a difference in their communities – making the love of Jesus real and deed and in word.
Great Vision!