Facebook stock is currently down 72 cents or 2.5% today to $28.12. This is off from its opening offering less than two weeks ago of 38 dollars. Investors are threatening lawsuits – which seems typically American, to sue for a gambling loss.* But this points to a bigger reality. Society is changing. All this is tied to the world wide web, but few are sure what it means. We feel this struggle in the church. But we are not alone. Even the minds of Wall Street – the ones so skilled in making money (if not skilled in helping the country!) – even these minds, do not know what to do with society in the internet age.

*Not to say stocks are comparable to slot machines – they are not. Instead it is more like poker. You hold in your hands part of the knowledge, but you do not hold every card. The future will lay down a hand that proves you a winner or a loser. Some hands may be sure winners, others more risky – but none are guaranteed. And this is the stock market. I say this as someone who has invested in stocks. And will again if I ever hold the cards presented in a flush… but I do it with the knowledge that my dollars may by flushed.

This goes beyond just stock prices. The most popular television show on the internet is Community. I have enjoyed this show from the very beginning. But as is the trend I have only seen a few episodes on my television. Instead I have watched them all through hulu.com. But because the show is only popular on the internet, it’s Nielsen rating is abysmal, it is in a perpetual state of being cancelled. This season it was in hiatus for half the year and next season it returns for only 13 episodes.

Of course this does not really matter. Good shows are often cancelled. And, outside of laughter being the best medicine, a single television show has not changed my life.

But I have been pondering  what it means to be a Christian today. The world is changing – we can all feel it. But what does this mean? How do we react? More importantly, how will the church make an impact? All the while there is a part of me that worries I am falling behind, that the church is falling behind… BUT, it was refreshing to realize everyone else is confused. Even the money experts are not sure how to make money in this new world (not that they are not making money, but it is not honed like the old system). Everyone seems to be hanging on for the ride – nervous just like me…

So, I move forward trying to follow Christ. Without all the answers. Except that I trust He has all the answers. And this is a good place to live. Not an easy place. It would be easier to go back to the time we knew what to do… to the time when we had the answers. That place is easy. It was easy to do church. It was easy to be Christian. And everyone joined in…

But that place no longer exists. And by trying to get there we will miss what Christ is doing today. Because He is not moving backward. He is moving forward to save the world that does not know how to save itself. And if we ask “how”? He will reply, “Follow me.”

And in this nothing has changed.

Darcy is fascinated by my Troy & Abed in the Morning coffee cup. Literally breakfast of green bean mush comes to a halt as I drink my coffee. She watches the cup’s every move. Laughing and reaching. I am not sure what about the cup captures her imagination. I suppose she already has good taste!

(Troy & Abed in the Morning is a Community short – Click here for a clip.)