This week we finally had a new sound system installed in our
building. This new system is primarily about sound and allowing people to hear
better, but it is much more than that. This system allows us to come into the
modern world more fully, making available DVD's, CD's and Digital recordings in
general as well as posting to the Internet in the future.
I believe it is money well spent as we look for more ways to
reach out to our modern world. Now there is always some grumbling when we
"modernize". Some folks are bound to hold on to the idea, "the
old way of doing it was good enough for our parents, so it should be good
enough for us."
Let me assure you that "Modern" is not always a
bad word. In fact it is defined as, "relating to, or
having the characteristics of the present or most recent period of
development," (Webster). I know from experience, that as we age we tend to
look at some of the new ideas and trends of our world with skepticism. It's
natural for us to do so I think. I personally try my best to hold back some of
my natural prejudices and think outside of the box in which I was raised. I'm
not always successful, some times my thoughts are based upon "my
feelings" or "my likes and dislikes," and to a certain extent
that's OK, its how God put us together as humans.
I would suggest though there is a better
criteria for deciding whether a new or modern idea is acceptable or not. In his
instructions to the early believers Jesus said, "Jesus came and told his
disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore,
go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all
the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even
to the end of the age.” (Matthew
28:18-20, NLT)
Here we see that we art to go and make disciples, baptizing
and teaching them to obey all of the commandments of God. Going and making
disciples are the primary command; teaching about obedience in "ALL"
of God's commands is next. So sometimes we need to modernize our thinking as to
how to "GO and TEACH," but never about keeping all of the commands of
God. We need to think outside of the box
in which we were raised and sometimes live, but never compromise the truth of
God's Word.
