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What has become spiritually obsolete?
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“He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” —Daniel 2:21
My husband sent me an article about popular products from the 1960’s that are now obsolete. I used some of the items listed when I worked at some of my first jobs. Here is the list of those products:
- Typewriters
- Rotary phones
- Carbon paper
- Phone books
- Adding machines
- To their list, I would add the once-and-absolute-necessity Rolodex.
My husband and I enjoy wandering antique stores and often comment on how the things we used and enjoyed years ago are now considered “retro” or “antique.” On the other hand, if we experience a technology apocalypse, our generation’s obsolete stuff will come in handy!
What has become obsolete in your church?
- The Sunday statistics board. There used to be a board at the exit from the worship service that showed how many people attended Sunday School, how much was given in the offering, and how many were in worship that day. That board required some volunteer church members each Sunday to gather the envelopes, count heads, count money, and, of course, drink coffee during the Sunday School and worship hours. Then came the “mega church,” which made this board obsolete.
- The nosy offering envelopes that offered weekly accountability. We used to get mailed these offering envelopes that asked us to check boxes that said: “Read my Bible daily,” “attended Sunday School,” “Attended worship,” “Shared my faith with someone,” and “Gave my offering.” They should have included a box that said, “And I didn’t fudge my answers on any of these boxes.”
- Church programs? Some churches still produce weekly printed programs, but most use screens to display announcements and guide the worship service.
- The need to bring a Bible to worship. The Scripture for the day is usually on the screens or available on our phones and tablets. If our Sunday school teacher is tech-savvy, we have it on a screen in Sunday School as well. The need to locate the book of Amos in short order has greatly diminished. (I say that as a preacher’s wife who purchased a Bible with the tabs because I was greatly embarrassed one week to be the LAST one in my pew still flipping the pages of my Bible as I desperately searched for the book of Amos! That memory STILL haunts me!)
- Lastly, what about our great need to be living a witness of biblical truth and living with that truth as our spiritual authority?
What has quietly become spiritually obsolete for living a biblical witness?
Have we included some areas of biblical truth in the same category as typewriters and carbon paper? In other words, are there some things Christians believed and taught in the sixties that we know still exist, but we have obsoleted them from our normal, daily lives?
- When was the last time you counseled a young person, possibly a family member, that sex apart from marriage is a sin? (Hebrews 13:4)
- When was the last time you considered your tithe as an option? (Malachi 3:10)
- When last did you explain to an unbeliever that only those who believe in Christ have the hope of an eternal life with God instead of an eternity in hell? (John 14:6)
- Have you ever believed that abortion was the better solution or enabled an abortion for someone you love? (Psalm 139:13–16)
- Have you quietly grown accustomed to seeing two people of the same gender act as if their sexual relationship should be celebrated? (Romans 1:26–27)
- Have you allowed your talk to become slanderous, tarnished, or unloving? Have you allowed your silence to give approval to things God cannot approve? (Ephesians 4:31–32)
My point was to step on ALL of our toes a bit, mine included. Satan’s hand has been on the dimmer switch for decades now. He has learned to take his time so that our eyes can adjust gradually to the growing spiritual weakness in our lives and in our culture. “A rising tide lifts all boats,” but the reverse is true as well.
Some timeless wisdom from C.S. Lewis
Normally, I use Scripture for us to consider. I included the Scripture passages above for that purpose. For today, I have a different suggestion. C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Screwtape Letters, first published in 1942, and it has never left our bookstores. At least it hasn’t become obsolete yet. That said, I rarely hear it quoted these days. I plan to reread the book this summer. It isn’t just food for thought; it’s a feast.
Consider these important words of advice from Screwtape to his servant about how to influence the world. Screwtape is the name Lewis used for Satan, and the following quotes are his advice from Lewis’ timeless, important book.
“Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,…Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.”
“It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.”
“Suspicion often creates what it suspects.”
“Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is finding his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him.”
“A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all—and more amusing.”
Will you consider C.S. Lewis for your summer reading?
If you feel like some of your spiritual resolve has been obsoleted, consider adding books like Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, or The Chronicles of Narnia to your summer reading list. It will be impossible to read and ponder these profound books without being changed.
If we have chosen a “moderated religion” in order to fit the current standards of our culture, have we chosen something that is “no religion at all”? We don’t want to be “amusing” to Satan; we want to be pleasing to God. The apostle Paul wrote, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).
The need for spiritual servants will never be obsolete in God’s kingdom. Let’s give our lives a spiritual tune-up this summer by considering the timeless wisdom of C.S. Lewis. He has a unique way of pointing our hearts and minds toward God.
