A
strange feeling went all through Pastor Tony
last Tuesday Morning. Most every Tuesday about 6 am before his church
staff arrived, the young pastor would quietly walk through the whole
church. He’d begin in the gymnasium, then sanctuary plus balcony,
children’s church and then the 19 Sunday school rooms, most of
which were downstairs.
He’d
finished his rounds and returned to his office. Sitting on the sofa
instead of his office chair, his heart was still searching for that
critical steel beam – that missing question to ask; the question of
how to keep children excited about church and God’s Word as they
mature. His questioning eyes panned across his many shelves of books
and printed reports – none of which seemed to offer any help just
now. The bright window drew his gaze that stopped at his laptop
computer and printer in a prominent position on his desk.
In
a moment he remembered Sam’s sarcastic statement, “maybe ya need
‘nother computer.” Young Pastor Tony got the urge to go back
downstairs to check out a hunch he had. The upstairs served most all
the adult functions while the lower level was mostly youth focused.
He
walked through each of the children’s church and classrooms looking
for something in particular. He had covered most all the children’s
rooms not finding even a hint of the thing for which he sought. In
one of the toddler classrooms he almost fell trying to sit in a chair
too short for him. His first question came to him.
- Why can I walk throughout most of the adult service and office areas upstairs and technology abounds? We even treat them as critical tools. But as soon as we walk down the stairs, any reference or images of technology disappear. Pastor Tony’s question he asked out loud, “Why does this seem to be another world for smaller humans?
And why is it most every grandchild can work a home computer mouse? Public kindergarten classes use hands-on computer teaching tools throughout each day. Yet I see no indication that the children’s classes and curriculum of our church (and others) even recognizes that technology exists.
Tony
urgently grabbed his cell phone to set up an appointment with his
Sunday school superintendent for an evening discussion about these
matters. He opened the cell phone, took a breath, and was about to
voice dial the needed number, when he saw something strange on the
shelf in the corner.
It
seemed to be fashioned out of cardboard but not like anything he’d
seen in church before – at this lower level world or the adult one
upstairs. Holding the cell phone camera toward the cardboard thing he
stored the digital picture in his phone and headed back to his office
with his new found questions and a picture of that cardboard thing.
- What is that thing I just took a picture of?
In
his office he spent the rest of the day working on his message for
Wednesday. It included one of his all time favorite references for
building vision and hope in his people.
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9
