Living Forward-Focused Lives
Luke 12:31
Do you, or someone you know, own a Swiss-made watch? They are beautiful timepieces. If we could go back in time and ask people living in 1968 which nation they thought would be dominating the world in watch-making for the next 50 years, their answer would have been Switzerland. They were making 65% of all watches at the time and netting about 90% of the profits as an elite brand. Their research and development experts were constantly refining their product. The Swiss discovered superior ways of manufacturing the gears, bearings and mainsprings in watches. They added the minute hand, led the way in self-winding watches and water-proofing techniques. They were successful and very profitable.
Twelve years later they controlled less than 10% of the world’s markets, and had to lay off 50,000 watch makers, leaving only 12,000 with a job. Their once secure and profitable industry was destroyed because they refused to adopt to new technology. There was a development called the Quartz movement; it did away with the need for a mainspring, or “knob”, and gave us the LCD readout. The Swiss rejected that advancement, refusing the paradigm shift, but others like Seiko accepted the innovation and became the leader in watch sales.
The Swiss failed to focus on their main task: they were in the business of helping people tell time. They forgot that purpose, letting their passion for making precision gears override an opportunity to improve how people could tell time. Their approach felt comfortable, familiar, so they slowly stopped innovating. The world changed around them and they didn’t adapt. In a not-too-distant future, Swiss watches from 1968 may well be displayed as antique artifacts in museum displays, rather than being worn on the wrists of people every day all around the world.
The lesson of the Swiss watch makers is profound and relevant for us as God’s church today. On this first Sunday when there’s the option of returning to in-person worship, many of us feel excited to be here, myself included. It’s familiar and comfortable to “do church” this way rather than watching a device or screen in our homes. But our entire congregation isn’t here with us in person. Some are watching worship online; they may continue to choose that option. We’ve adapted during the COVID pandemic using a hybrid format, offering two options for worship. But we honestly haven’t mastered the technology yet - we are still in the learning curve stages. We need to devote energy and people resources to this innovation because it is now embraced and needed by our “consumers”.
We used to print and mail monthly church newsletters. For over a year now we’ve shifted our paradigm, sending news out weekly in order to be better connected during an isolating time. We’ll continue to be hybrid in our communications moving forward, offering electronic options for most but gladly mailing news to those not using technology.
But these are only two ways we have innovated, and more will surely be needed. If there is one phrase I’ve heard more than just about any other during the last year, it’s the hope that we’ll finally “get back to normal”. I get that, I really miss the life I once lived. I can’t see into the future any more than you can but I believe COVID-19 not only disrupted our daily lives, it has and will keep on shifting paradigms in our daily lives. Who could have imagined teachers around the world teaching at home or in empty classrooms? Now we’ve adapted school schedules, sending kids in on different days. Many business owners have likewise innovated to run their day-to-day operations; large office spaces now sit empty or underutilized as many employees work from home. There’s been a rapid shift to online communication for meetings at work, but also to stay in touch with family and socialize. Music concerts, sadly, aren’t being held but artists are finding ways to still reach their fans and audiences. Lots of people have decided to purchase exercise equipment and shift their workout sessions to their home. Plenty of brick and mortar stores have closed or will close forever as shopping shifts online. And have you passed by some of the recently-closed local businesses right here in our lovely village? No one yet knows which changes will become the new normal, but it’s likely that many of them will permanently shift our past practices. That holds true for us as a church. We’re living through a unique era in history right now.
The lesson learned too late by Swiss watchmakers was that innovation, adapting to the world around us, leads to ongoing success. They also forgot their main purpose: to help people know what time it is each day. Instead of focusing on their core mission, they sat around in their familiar factories and watched mostly out-of-date gears be manufactured. They didn’t pivot when they had the chance.
Members and friends of the Ballston Spa United Methodist Church, we must pivot so we can thrive in this new era, positioning ourselves wisely for the future. This past week the Church Council, the leadership team for our
congregation, gave its thoughtful attention to some ways we anticipate adapting. We’ll keep on doing some things as a church much as we have in the past. I’ve already named some other ways we’ll be hybrid, offering more than one option. These needful conversations are just beginning. You’ll be invited to be part of all that is unfolding.
One thing I promise to do is remind us all that our main mission as a church is to help other people come to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We do not need to be in our church building to do that, do we? It can and should happen anywhere and anytime. But there are many other things we do as a church, and that often means coming together here inside this church building to engage in ministries and mission.
I read this week that no organization should ever waste a good crisis! I see COVID-19 as a good crisis. It abruptly halted so much of what we typically did as a church. Our lights were turned off and the heat set low. Once-busy rooms remained empty. No chatter from joyful children was heard in our hallways, nor did any scent of brewing coffee greet us. Our bells have not rung out in sweet melodies but have remained packed safely in their velvet-lined boxes. For me, perhaps saddest of all, on Christmas Eve, perhaps for the first time ever, no crowd arrived to sing carols, hear the story of the Savior’s birth and wish one another Merry Christmas.
But countering these losses were some ground-breaking ways of doing church. We had to stretch and begin to be a 2.0 church after being a 1.0 church for a long time. What motivated us was necessity, and our own personal needs. We missed worshipping together, seeing each other, and the fullness we had known. We all realized how much we had taken for granted, and with it suddenly gone we grieved a lot, over losses small and large. We got angry sometimes and or fell into depression. We also made it a point to help others in need and reach out to others. We really missed “seeing people”. And sometimes we got tired of seeing the people we had to live with every day.
But now we are in a new stage, one with more hope and possibilities. People are getting vaccinated, and some limitations are being loosened. But none of us are the same as we were before this pandemic. It’s been a hard trial - none of us were exempt. It flattened more than our economy. The deaths recorded don’t likely come close to the real tally, and such a number can never convey our mourning over so many things.
I think people are hurting more now than perhaps ever before in their lifetime. We’re weary from worrying. Anxious about having enough money to see us through. Feeling uncertain about what our lives will now be like. Maybe you see a rosier picture than I do, but I doubt it. Here is something else I feel is very true:
God would like every person who is tired, hurting, scared or lonely to know about and experience His amazing love. He wants to be their God and fill them with joy and purpose. All around us are people too numerous to count who would love to find caring people to be their friends. They may also need some practical help to make ends meet. But they will also want to serve others any way they can. If we lead with God’s love and are contagious in the ways we live out our faith, many people will want to be right here with us.
But that is another paradigm shift. We have expected people to come to us, enter our church building. On Sunday mornings we come here to get filled up for the coming week and visit for a bit with our own friends. While not meant to exclude, that can be the end result. The call of Christ is not to self-focused living.
This cannot just be the task of the pastor or a small minority; each disciple of Jesus needs to warmly invite others to join them on the journey to know God, grow in their faith, find ways to serve, then invite others to invite God into their lives. This cycle should repeat itself again and again, so that the Kingdom of God grows wider and fuller. That is the good future I see for you and for me, for this church.
These are unique times and this is a good crisis. We have and will adapt and innovate. We’ll be a hybrid church for a post-COVID world. That is the good and hope-filled future I see for us as God’s people.
Twelve years later they controlled less than 10% of the world’s markets, and had to lay off 50,000 watch makers, leaving only 12,000 with a job. Their once secure and profitable industry was destroyed because they refused to adopt to new technology. There was a development called the Quartz movement; it did away with the need for a mainspring, or “knob”, and gave us the LCD readout. The Swiss rejected that advancement, refusing the paradigm shift, but others like Seiko accepted the innovation and became the leader in watch sales.
The Swiss failed to focus on their main task: they were in the business of helping people tell time. They forgot that purpose, letting their passion for making precision gears override an opportunity to improve how people could tell time. Their approach felt comfortable, familiar, so they slowly stopped innovating. The world changed around them and they didn’t adapt. In a not-too-distant future, Swiss watches from 1968 may well be displayed as antique artifacts in museum displays, rather than being worn on the wrists of people every day all around the world.
The lesson of the Swiss watch makers is profound and relevant for us as God’s church today. On this first Sunday when there’s the option of returning to in-person worship, many of us feel excited to be here, myself included. It’s familiar and comfortable to “do church” this way rather than watching a device or screen in our homes. But our entire congregation isn’t here with us in person. Some are watching worship online; they may continue to choose that option. We’ve adapted during the COVID pandemic using a hybrid format, offering two options for worship. But we honestly haven’t mastered the technology yet - we are still in the learning curve stages. We need to devote energy and people resources to this innovation because it is now embraced and needed by our “consumers”.
We used to print and mail monthly church newsletters. For over a year now we’ve shifted our paradigm, sending news out weekly in order to be better connected during an isolating time. We’ll continue to be hybrid in our communications moving forward, offering electronic options for most but gladly mailing news to those not using technology.
But these are only two ways we have innovated, and more will surely be needed. If there is one phrase I’ve heard more than just about any other during the last year, it’s the hope that we’ll finally “get back to normal”. I get that, I really miss the life I once lived. I can’t see into the future any more than you can but I believe COVID-19 not only disrupted our daily lives, it has and will keep on shifting paradigms in our daily lives. Who could have imagined teachers around the world teaching at home or in empty classrooms? Now we’ve adapted school schedules, sending kids in on different days. Many business owners have likewise innovated to run their day-to-day operations; large office spaces now sit empty or underutilized as many employees work from home. There’s been a rapid shift to online communication for meetings at work, but also to stay in touch with family and socialize. Music concerts, sadly, aren’t being held but artists are finding ways to still reach their fans and audiences. Lots of people have decided to purchase exercise equipment and shift their workout sessions to their home. Plenty of brick and mortar stores have closed or will close forever as shopping shifts online. And have you passed by some of the recently-closed local businesses right here in our lovely village? No one yet knows which changes will become the new normal, but it’s likely that many of them will permanently shift our past practices. That holds true for us as a church. We’re living through a unique era in history right now.
The lesson learned too late by Swiss watchmakers was that innovation, adapting to the world around us, leads to ongoing success. They also forgot their main purpose: to help people know what time it is each day. Instead of focusing on their core mission, they sat around in their familiar factories and watched mostly out-of-date gears be manufactured. They didn’t pivot when they had the chance.
Members and friends of the Ballston Spa United Methodist Church, we must pivot so we can thrive in this new era, positioning ourselves wisely for the future. This past week the Church Council, the leadership team for our
congregation, gave its thoughtful attention to some ways we anticipate adapting. We’ll keep on doing some things as a church much as we have in the past. I’ve already named some other ways we’ll be hybrid, offering more than one option. These needful conversations are just beginning. You’ll be invited to be part of all that is unfolding.
One thing I promise to do is remind us all that our main mission as a church is to help other people come to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We do not need to be in our church building to do that, do we? It can and should happen anywhere and anytime. But there are many other things we do as a church, and that often means coming together here inside this church building to engage in ministries and mission.
I read this week that no organization should ever waste a good crisis! I see COVID-19 as a good crisis. It abruptly halted so much of what we typically did as a church. Our lights were turned off and the heat set low. Once-busy rooms remained empty. No chatter from joyful children was heard in our hallways, nor did any scent of brewing coffee greet us. Our bells have not rung out in sweet melodies but have remained packed safely in their velvet-lined boxes. For me, perhaps saddest of all, on Christmas Eve, perhaps for the first time ever, no crowd arrived to sing carols, hear the story of the Savior’s birth and wish one another Merry Christmas.
But countering these losses were some ground-breaking ways of doing church. We had to stretch and begin to be a 2.0 church after being a 1.0 church for a long time. What motivated us was necessity, and our own personal needs. We missed worshipping together, seeing each other, and the fullness we had known. We all realized how much we had taken for granted, and with it suddenly gone we grieved a lot, over losses small and large. We got angry sometimes and or fell into depression. We also made it a point to help others in need and reach out to others. We really missed “seeing people”. And sometimes we got tired of seeing the people we had to live with every day.
But now we are in a new stage, one with more hope and possibilities. People are getting vaccinated, and some limitations are being loosened. But none of us are the same as we were before this pandemic. It’s been a hard trial - none of us were exempt. It flattened more than our economy. The deaths recorded don’t likely come close to the real tally, and such a number can never convey our mourning over so many things.
I think people are hurting more now than perhaps ever before in their lifetime. We’re weary from worrying. Anxious about having enough money to see us through. Feeling uncertain about what our lives will now be like. Maybe you see a rosier picture than I do, but I doubt it. Here is something else I feel is very true:
God would like every person who is tired, hurting, scared or lonely to know about and experience His amazing love. He wants to be their God and fill them with joy and purpose. All around us are people too numerous to count who would love to find caring people to be their friends. They may also need some practical help to make ends meet. But they will also want to serve others any way they can. If we lead with God’s love and are contagious in the ways we live out our faith, many people will want to be right here with us.
But that is another paradigm shift. We have expected people to come to us, enter our church building. On Sunday mornings we come here to get filled up for the coming week and visit for a bit with our own friends. While not meant to exclude, that can be the end result. The call of Christ is not to self-focused living.
This cannot just be the task of the pastor or a small minority; each disciple of Jesus needs to warmly invite others to join them on the journey to know God, grow in their faith, find ways to serve, then invite others to invite God into their lives. This cycle should repeat itself again and again, so that the Kingdom of God grows wider and fuller. That is the good future I see for you and for me, for this church.
These are unique times and this is a good crisis. We have and will adapt and innovate. We’ll be a hybrid church for a post-COVID world. That is the good and hope-filled future I see for us as God’s people.