With the last day of the calendar year, many of us start thinking about a fresh start. Even though the earth rotates on its axis unaware of the human-defined change to a new year, we somehow ascribe significance to this man-made observance. It would be sad indeed if we reflected on our lives, goals, and dreams only once a year.
As I get older, I notice I get more desperate for accomplishment and notoriety. I see the sand slipping through that glass and think in terms of years left. "If I can write two novels a year, I'll have twenty-five finished by age sixty." Stuff like that. I notice I push myself hard and it creates stress. I get depressed every day that goes by and my agents fail to call me with good news of a publishing contract. Why can't I take God's view of eternity and know that the gifts and talents I am developing and honing now will follow me into the new order? Part of me wants so badly to touch the world, to make a difference, to end my life with the ability to look back and say I've accomplished something important. That I helped change lives, led people to God, imparted some hope. I pray every day for God to use my gifts and talents to those ends. And I trust He will, in His time, in His way. but what am I to do? What should we all be doing?
I am reminded of Jesus' discussions of being entrusted with precious things. He spoke of those who are given much, and more is then given to them. Why? In another place he says "he who is faithful in little is faithful in much," and that when we are entrusted with a task and we are faithful in carrying it out, we are giving more responsibility. I try to ponder of this concept often. I try not to despise the days of small things, small accomplishments. I know God has given me some very precious gifts and I know He has called me to use them to the full for His glory. He has not called me to be successful; he has called me to be faithful. I also think of the widow who hounded the poor judge until she got what she wanted. So is it wrong for me to pray incessantly that I want these successes? I don't believe it is. But I do believe when we pray for something we really want, we need to take the "talent" God has given us and invest it wisely.
I've read numerous postings of fellow editors, and seen posts of writers' discussing the role of holy spirit in the lives of writers. Many, many authors claim they have been compelled to write their book, story, poem, by God's spirit. Not only that, they say God wrote their piece, so they don't dare edit it or touch it. Many editors reply, "If God wrote your book, why didn't he edit it, too?"
If God calls you to be a doctor, do you just assume he will perform your surgeries for you and you don't even have to go to med school? You will just be given this gift and then you let Him do all the work? We would be horrified to go under the knife of a surgeon who had never spent a minute studying medicine. So why do writers feel they can just write under Holy Spirit and produce a God-inspired, perfect work? Doesn't it make more sense that we first get the call, and then we take the talent and prove faithful in what has been given us? To me, that equates with hard study, practice, discipline, humility to ask for and act on advice in order to be a proficent writer that God can use.
It goes back to the adage: Act as if your life depends upon you; pray as if your life depends upon God. Maybe I have that wrong, but it makes sense to me. If I plow ahead, full steam, sowing day and night, not letting my hand rest--as if it depends upon me--then I am showing the faith I have in God. How? Because if I truly believe He has called me to task, then I want to be about doing it 100%. Putting every determined, faithful effort in that I can. But underneath it all I hear Jesus' words from John 15:5: "Apart from me you can do nothing." Not some things, not little things-NO things. Nothing. We don't know what on earth we are doing for heaven's sake; we only trust that Jesus is in control and he will give us things to do.
So, that's my resolution for the new year--oops--for each and every day until eternity: To be faithful with what I've been given. To not squander the gifts, however small and seemingly insignificant. To pray incessantly for what I want in accordance with God's will. And, lastly, to be alert and awake, so I will not miss the nudgings of God, so I will follow His lead and grab every task set before me so I can prove myself a faithful steward of what He has entrusted to me. May this be a resolve for us all. Susanne
http://www.cslakin.com/
Showing posts with label spirituality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spirituality. Show all posts
12/31/2007
3/30/2007
The Future Church
by Terri Main
Earlier this week I received a link to an article by an internet evangelist and philosopher of the "post-modern" church entitled ARE YOU READY FOR SCIENCE FICTION CLERGY? He talked about some of the characteristics of future spiritual leaders in his opinion. The article is interesting and provocative even if I didn't agree with some of the conclusions. However, this post is not about that article. Nevertheless, it got me thinking about the future of the church and the implications for writing spirituality-based science fiction.
I've been in church over 50 years. I was in high school before PA systems were standard in churches. A woman in our church was removed from the choir because she wore lipstick. The pastor was the only paid staff member for a church of 200 people and he lived in an apartment in the back of the church.
Today, we not only have PA systems, but we digitally record the services. Women not only wear makeup, but our ladies group has had Mary Kay parties, and even small churches have multiple staff members. My grandfather, who was an old country pastor, could never have imagined that his granddaughter would be able to minister to hundreds of thousands of people a year over the internet. In less than half a century, not only the technology of the church has changed, but also it's culture and social structure. I won't argue whether or not those changes are for the best. The future is always the best judge of the past.
But this does raise the question for science fiction writers of what a future church might look like. Here are a few places to start:
What constitutes a church? Already "churches" are meeting online using chat rooms and discussion boards for fellowship and listening to sermons as downloadable MP3's . Several churches have sprung up in virtual world's like Second Life. Maybe future churches will meet in real time using holographic projections. But how might a church experience change when you can delete an objectionable member or easily erase the pastor's sermon from your hard drive or when you can project any type of image you want of yourself?
What is the role of the pastor/priest? Back in the old days a parson might jump on his horse and ride from one church to another in remote regions. These "circuit riders" planted churches and provided supervision as local lay ministers held services between the parson's visits. Might not a similar arrangement exist in a future time when humanity colonizes other planets in remote regions? Perhaps the pastor will exist only as a holographic projection.
On a less technological note, how might the roles of parishioner and pastor change over time. In the past many roles now held by paid staff and licensed ministers were held by volunteers. Will that trend continue until the opportunities for for lay service become increasingly limited. Or will there be a backlash and paid staff slowly disappear.
Many churches 50 years ago did not allow women to be ordained, yet many which didn't then, do so now. Some churches have even ordained gays and lesbians. Meanwhile conservative backlashes are producing splits in some of these churches. Will celibacy in the priesthood survive into the next century? Will the growth of megachurches push the small local church "out of business" making pastors CEO's first and shepherds last? Will the church hierarchy become more egalitarian or more authoritarian over time?
The Mission of the Church. Arguments over the mission of the church have filled books and church leadership conferences for years. They tend to break down into two camps: in-reach and outreach. The inreach camp says that the point of the church is to nurture and disciple Christians and provide a place for fellowship and support. The outreach camp contends that churches exist to reach their communities with the "Good News" of salvation. I can't imagine this struggle over the mission of the church to diminish over time. If we move out to the stars and engage alien intelligences, the role of the human church in "evangelizing" alien cultures will further complicate t h is question.
There are, of course, many other potential issues that can be concerns for the science-fiction writers. Some of the most interesting science fiction doesn't involve beaming into the middle of hostile aliens with phasers blasting away. Extrapolating from current trends into the future can not only be thought-provoking fiction, but also frame the discussion about where we actually want to go as a people and as a community of faith.
Earlier this week I received a link to an article by an internet evangelist and philosopher of the "post-modern" church entitled ARE YOU READY FOR SCIENCE FICTION CLERGY? He talked about some of the characteristics of future spiritual leaders in his opinion. The article is interesting and provocative even if I didn't agree with some of the conclusions. However, this post is not about that article. Nevertheless, it got me thinking about the future of the church and the implications for writing spirituality-based science fiction.
I've been in church over 50 years. I was in high school before PA systems were standard in churches. A woman in our church was removed from the choir because she wore lipstick. The pastor was the only paid staff member for a church of 200 people and he lived in an apartment in the back of the church.
Today, we not only have PA systems, but we digitally record the services. Women not only wear makeup, but our ladies group has had Mary Kay parties, and even small churches have multiple staff members. My grandfather, who was an old country pastor, could never have imagined that his granddaughter would be able to minister to hundreds of thousands of people a year over the internet. In less than half a century, not only the technology of the church has changed, but also it's culture and social structure. I won't argue whether or not those changes are for the best. The future is always the best judge of the past.
But this does raise the question for science fiction writers of what a future church might look like. Here are a few places to start:
What constitutes a church? Already "churches" are meeting online using chat rooms and discussion boards for fellowship and listening to sermons as downloadable MP3's . Several churches have sprung up in virtual world's like Second Life. Maybe future churches will meet in real time using holographic projections. But how might a church experience change when you can delete an objectionable member or easily erase the pastor's sermon from your hard drive or when you can project any type of image you want of yourself?
What is the role of the pastor/priest? Back in the old days a parson might jump on his horse and ride from one church to another in remote regions. These "circuit riders" planted churches and provided supervision as local lay ministers held services between the parson's visits. Might not a similar arrangement exist in a future time when humanity colonizes other planets in remote regions? Perhaps the pastor will exist only as a holographic projection.
On a less technological note, how might the roles of parishioner and pastor change over time. In the past many roles now held by paid staff and licensed ministers were held by volunteers. Will that trend continue until the opportunities for for lay service become increasingly limited. Or will there be a backlash and paid staff slowly disappear.
Many churches 50 years ago did not allow women to be ordained, yet many which didn't then, do so now. Some churches have even ordained gays and lesbians. Meanwhile conservative backlashes are producing splits in some of these churches. Will celibacy in the priesthood survive into the next century? Will the growth of megachurches push the small local church "out of business" making pastors CEO's first and shepherds last? Will the church hierarchy become more egalitarian or more authoritarian over time?
The Mission of the Church. Arguments over the mission of the church have filled books and church leadership conferences for years. They tend to break down into two camps: in-reach and outreach. The inreach camp says that the point of the church is to nurture and disciple Christians and provide a place for fellowship and support. The outreach camp contends that churches exist to reach their communities with the "Good News" of salvation. I can't imagine this struggle over the mission of the church to diminish over time. If we move out to the stars and engage alien intelligences, the role of the human church in "evangelizing" alien cultures will further complicate t h is question.
There are, of course, many other potential issues that can be concerns for the science-fiction writers. Some of the most interesting science fiction doesn't involve beaming into the middle of hostile aliens with phasers blasting away. Extrapolating from current trends into the future can not only be thought-provoking fiction, but also frame the discussion about where we actually want to go as a people and as a community of faith.
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