Last night while I was working at my computer I turned on the radio feature for I-Tunes and clicked on Classic Country. This is not normally my first music choice these days, but for some reason I wanted to listen to some of the old country songs I listened to growing up. It only took about three songs, and my mind was back in our old milking barn. We lived on several dairy farms when I grew up, but for some reason when I think back to those days I go back to the same farm. There we still put milk in the milk cans and then placed the cans in a tank of cooling water until the truck came to pick them up. During school I usually didn't have to help milk in the morning, but during the summer I was in the barn early in the morning and back again most evenings to help. I can still see the set-up of that barn, I can still remember the names of some of our cows, and I certainly remember the smells. I also remember an old radio that set on a ledge high up on the wall that was turned to a country music station that we listened to while we milked. Many of the songs I heard last night were the same ones that we listened to in the barn, and that is why my mind went back to those days so long ago.
Of course, all my time wasn't spent in the barn. We had a lake that was about one acre big filled with fish and frogs. I caught many fish out of that lake with an old rod and reel my grandfather gave me, and I caught lots of frogs that provided some good frog leg dinners. A basketball hoop was nailed on the side of the barn that offered me plenty of time to work on my jump shot. Even as young as I was I was often driving a tractor plowing a field or raking hay. I learned how to drive when most kids my age were still trying to learn how to ride a bicycle. Our TV got three channels, sometimes four, if we got the antenna turned just right. Sunday afternoons were often spent visiting family.
It was a simple time. No cell phones, no computers, no being available 24-7-365. A big event for me was going to the feed mill with Dad and getting a nickle for the coke machine. The good old days. Or was it? Living on a dairy farm meant that we never went far from home. There was a lot of hard work that is easily forgotten now thanks to our selective memories. Sometimes I think it would be nice to return to those simpler days, but the fact is the world has changed. Most of us will never recapture those days, and maybe we shouldn't even try.
A lot of churches would like to return to a time when it was easier to be a church. All a church had to do in those days was open its doors and the people would come in. The Baptist church took care of the Baptists in town, the Methodist church met the needs of the Methodists, and each denominational church cared for its own. As I said, we moved several times when I was growing up, but finding a church was easy. We just attended the closest Baptist church. They all used the same literature and pretty much followed the same worship format.
Well, those days are over. As much as some churches would like to return to those days, it's never going to happen. People come to church with different expectations, and fewer people go to church at all. A few years ago studies came out explaining why the unchurched were staying away from the church. Now, those studies are finding that even many believers are avoiding traditional churches as they feel such churches are hazardous to their spiritual health. Many question if today's church is even relevant to the needs of our society.
The answer to that question is yes. The church will always be relevant because we proclaim a message that continues to address the deepest needs of mankind. We offer a message of hope, of forgiveness, of justice, of mercy, and an opportunity to reconnect with our Creator. However, if that message is packaged in programs and ministries that fails to connect with people we will continue to be seen as irrelevant. Let's stop trying to recapture the good old days and look for ways to share the great message of Jesus Christ that will capture the minds and hearts of people today.
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