[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 16/May/2021]
I’m quite aware that not everyone sees things as I do! But I’m also quite sure, based on the observations of up-to-date Christian writers and private conversations I’ve had, that many of us are secretly thinking things we don’t dare speak about openly. So … here goes!
Very recently, while in group prayer, I had a mental picture of a bus at a stop. The driver was standing outside the bus calling out, ‘All change!‘ His passengers were getting off his bus and boarding another which had just pulled up in front of it. I immediately had what I think is a prophetic interpretation of the scenario: Bus 1 had apparently achieved its purpose – it had taken people so far. What wasn’t clear to me was whether, 1) this change of bus was a normal part of the route, or 2) this was an emergency caused by a breakdown of the first bus.
I think option 2 is correct. No-one expected to have to change buses to complete their journey. BUT THEY WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO GET WHERE THEY WANTED TO GO IF THEY REFUSED THE ‘ALL CHANGE’ CALL! Bus 1 had not really served its purpose, but the passengers couldn’t have realised that before getting to this stop.
Here’s where things get really challenging. Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate change activist, says that when we find ourselves tackling a life-or-death catastrophe, small adjustments to our lifestyle are FAILURES; only radical change will make the necessary difference!
I apply that to church. If we’re going to complete our journey, to fulfil Jesus’s ‘great commission’ (Matt 28: 19-20) we need to wake up to the truth that our traditional ‘means of transport’ has failed to get us where Jesus wants to take us. We need the courage, the DESPERATION, to get on that next bus. We’ll be surprised to see who’s driving it!!
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Contributed by Dennis Ginter; © the Author
