What the world needs now is not only love but creativity. A few posts ago I placed a link on this blog entitled, "Did You Know?" It is a very powerful video of a slide show with some simple statistics and questions on it. But they cause many of us to have a powerful emotional response.
The statistics are about what is happening in the world scene and the Shifts in population, economics, creativity and how they are changing the world. The slide show was presented for a teachers' meeting in Colorado and designed to challenge them to think about whether or not we as a nation are preparing kids for the future.
But where is Christianity in this regard? We are already well within the 21st Century but I do not see many Christian leaders able or willing to "Take us into the Promised Land". It seems to me that we are far too often ruled by FEAR not FAITH. As FDR said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
FEAR causes many religious leaders to prepare their people for the Sixteenth Century. The current model of Christian education has not changed much since Luther and Calvin, and that is tragic. Only one or two persons in a church can"Minister/Serve" and everyone else is passive.
Only one person is allowed to speak and everyone else is passive. What does this teach us? To listen passively. That Christianity is passive for almost everyone. A few people get to talk and work but everyone else is supposed to shut up and sit down.
After a while the speakers get worn out and the people get angry and they fight. The talker complain that the listeners won't do anything and the listeners complain that the talkers don't do enough for them.
The Middle Ages Church Model is a lot like a cruise ship. People pay to ride, see the sights and eat well. Their money goes to pay the captain and crew to dress up in special clothes carrying drinks and blankets. The staff also gets everyone to play deck games or they will complain of boredom.
Some ships advertise that they are going to teach the people how to sail. They deliver a few lectures in air conditioned halls on the frightful and difficult history of sailing and how the heroic sailors risked life and limb so we can sail in the comfort of a modern vessel. After the cruise is over the passengers unload with no idea about how to row a boat let alone sail a schooner.
We need a new model.
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