Who Would’ve Thought . . . ?

I’ve been in full-time ministry for 36 years now. Back when I started, we never imagined some of the things we face today. Who would’ve thought, for example, that . . . .

  1. . . . we’d hear about congregations that meet entirely by a system called the “Internet”?
  2. . . . we’d be faced with updating our church policies to clarify our positions on same-sex marriage?
  3. . . . we’d have opportunity to talk to missionaries around the world in real time via a computer and a screen?
  4. . . . we’d learn of pastors who lost their jobs because they plagiarized a sermon found on a website?
  5. . . . we’d sometimes be in the middle of church conflicts that are no longer local, simply because somebody set up a new online site for discussion? 
  6. . . . we’d be determining how to minister to transgendered persons?
  7. . . . we’d still be dealing with issues like racial reconciliation?
  8. . . . we’d need to spend significant time teaching about other world religions so that we could minister to our neighbors and the nations?
  9. . . . we’d face comparisons not only with other local church pastors, but even more so with nationally known “heroes” whose sermons are available online?
  10.  . . . we’d be preaching from a Bible on an instrument called the “iPad”? 
  11.  . . . we’d be talking about churches in North America that meet in homes – and not just while they’re building a building
  12.  . . . we’d see perhaps as many as 8-10,000 churches close each year?
  13.  . . . we’d invite members to open their hard copy of their Bible or their electronic copy
  14.  . . . we’d have multiple ways to give an offering, including automatic bank drafts and online giving?
  15.  . . . we’d see congregations that have multi-sites, some in different states and even in different countries? 

The church world keeps changing – sometimes for the better, and sometimes not. Whatever we face, though, God is still God, and the gospel is still the gospel.

What other things have you seen that you’d never think you would see?

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