Sixty years ago I obtained my chauffeur’s license so I could drive bread trucks in the summer, a job I held until I graduated from college. One truck was an electric stand-up-and-drive vehicle. It ran quietly, economically, and efficiently as long as I charged it overnight. Now that gas at the pump costs about $4 per gallon, talk about electric vehicles is common. I can only wonder why technology didn’t move forward 60 years ago so our cars today could whirr and click on electricity instead of guzzle expensive gas.
And wouldn’t our churches be better off if Christians recovered what was good about the past? First-century Christians were taught the importance of relying on the power of the Holy Spirit for effective living and witnessing (Acts 1:8; Galatians 5:16, 22, 23; Ephesians 5:18). In our quest for cultural relevance, have we abandoned the power of the Spirit that is available to convict sinners and to draw them to the Savior? Are we relying on entertainment instead of biblical preaching to accomplish what only divine power can accomplish? If so, let’s recapture what was good about the past. If we don’t, by comparison the cost of driving a thoroughly modern church may make $4 per gallon gas look like a bargain.
