When you reach your mid-40's (ouch, did I really admit that?!), you begin to evaluate things. All kinds of things. You ask questions like, "I've been doing this for 20 years, and do I really want to do it for 20 more?" See the November 9 blog post. You ask, "Is my work meaningful?" and "Does it add to God's kingdom?" You even ask, "Am I really 'that close' to 50?" Of course not.
During the past several months, I've been energized by discussions with you about your future ministry plans, to help equip you in those, and to dream about what God might do. We've talked about increasing the connectedness of your church both internally and externally via technology, and about the absolute potential to reach the ends of the earth from Anytown, USA. There's no doubt that we live in an exciting time, and that technology plays a role.
In Mike Sessler's article on the future of technology in the church, he asks some tough questions about whether technology has become a crutch and alludes to the question of its proper role. Hmm...proper.
On the surface, that's not exactly the type of article that has the potential to sell a lot of new equipment. I could have easily skipped right over it and published another technical how-to article, in an attempt to load you up with more stuff. If you think about it, selling more equipment is how we make our living. But if you've read the blog for long, you know that getting you into the right gear is our part of your good stewardship of God's resources.
Lots of vendors sell the same equipment that we do. Even so, I like to think that we sell solutions that you can't find just anywhere. Integrated solutions. Solutions that don't exceed your need, that work well, and that aren't crutch-like.
From time to time, we should all step back and remember that technology is not the Message itself. Even a gear-guy like me recognizes that God somehow moves without LED lighting and HD projectors. He does it all of the time, and doesn't need technology (or us) to do it. Thankfully, He allows us along for the ride, if we're willing.