Meeting the Challenges of a New Age

Jesus ministered to people who were facing an “in-between” period. The old order was on the way out. They did not know what the new would be like.

They were people at the threshold. They were passing out of an old era. They were being weaned off dependence upon the old religious system, but not through any rebellion. They were about to enter a new era through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They had fears, confusions, uncertainties and pain.

What of Us?
The Lord's Prayer moves between the mega dimension of God's coming kingdom and the immediate concerns which we may call "our daily bread".

As we wrestle with the smallness, rejection, and apparent marginality of today's church, how do we relate to God's Kingdom?

Understanding of our present world situation with regard to Christianity will help.From the 4th to 20th centuries there existed a phenomenon called Christendom, when the Church was at the centre of nations and cultures. Modernity gradually saw the dismantling of that order. The churches made some sort of adjustment with modernity, but modernity has disintegrated into something which we now call post-modernity.

The Church moved from the centre to the edge. But now there is no centre and there is no edge, because the whole of the modern world is going through a metamorphosis.

The challenge for us is to find God’s ways for us to be a missionary people in a different type of world. If we seek God’s wisdom, he will give it. He will help us change and made necessary adjustments. He will open doors that we never even thought of. We do need to be willing to change and to grow, but we have nothing to fear. Jesus said, “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 20)

Lindsay Johnstone

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