At the Zoe Leadership Conference Leonard Sweet described what he called a perfect storm facing churches in today's world. A perfect storm occurs with the confluence of two or more major storms. Sweet described the Tsunami of Postmodernity, the Hurricane of Post Christendom, and the Global Warming of Post Scale. Each of these has the potential to significantly impact today's church; together some effect is inevitable.
The postmodern world values community, authenticity, and experience; it is a digital, connected, electronic world; it is a world that views truth as relative.
The post Christendom is one where the traditional view/role of the church in the community is no longer the common view/role. The church is no longer at the center of a community, but has moved to the margins of society.
The post scale world is one that has reached a tipping point, where the next incremental step results in disproportionate change far greater than the previous increments. One example Sweet used was the development of hunting tools: the bow and arrow was an improvement over the club; the gun an improvement over the bow and arrow; they each make hunting incrementally easier and more efficient. The bomb however, destroys the food.
We can recognize and prepare for the approaching storm or we can maintain status quo as though it doesn't exist; either way, the storm is approaching.
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27 years ago today, at the Downtown church in Searcy, Dr. Kenneth Davis, Jr. (Uncle Bud for any readers with Harding connections) performed the wedding ceremony that united me with the love of my life. This evening we celebrated by having our kids join us in watching the Mavericks win their 16th straight. Taylor is home for Spring Break this week, and Lauren took a short break from studying, riding the train from Ft. Worth to meet us at the American Airlines Center. How pleasant to be able to share important occasions and simple good times with your kids.
Lest you be concerned that going to a basketball game is not exactly the most romantic of anniversary celebrations, I can share with you that Barbara and I do have a long weekend trip planned overlapping our spring breaks. And the day also included 27 roses. But I can also share with you that just doing the smaller things together is a large part of the joy and depth of a mutually satisfying marriage relationship.
Looking back over these 27 years I am amazed at how I have been blessed by life with Barbara; I can hardly wait to see what the next 27 bring.
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