Anyone with Ears

When Paul writes to the church in Philadelphia, he says:

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” –Revelation 3:6 NLT

His language here is praising those who have been acting according to God’s will. We are accountable for listening if we can hear. In that same logic, if we can speak to others, we are also responsible for doing that.

When we look at church history, we see the institution has to reorganize now and then because of societal changes. As Christianity spread to more countries, it became more organized. Worship also shifted to the native language of those present. The examples could keep going.

“The phrase “fresh expression” is inspired by the Book of Common Prayer: The Church of England . . . professes the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds, which faith the Church is called upon to proclaim afresh in each generation.” (Fresh Expressions: A New Kind of Methodist Church For People Not In Church)

The body of Christ is not stagnant but ever alive and growing. That also means it changes as new members join and the generations change. We can either fight the changes or seek ways to do God’s work within them. We can either be the grumpy old Christians, sitting on our church porches yelling at the young people that “in our day….we all wore our Sunday best, sang hymns, and kids sat quietly,” or we can celebrate the next generations getting excited about church.

What they’re excited about may look completely different than what we experience today. Then again, how Jesus experienced life looked different from what we do today. Know where in scripture it says Jesus preached for 30 minutes, took up an offering, and sang the doxology.