Have you ever noticed that most books or movies about the future are pretty…depressing?
We are overrun with zombies just trying to survive, fighting off cyborg killing machines bent on human extermination, or we are huddled in our fallout shelters scared to leave for fear of being infected with radiation from the nuclear wasteland that exists above ground after WWIII! It’s almost like…
It is hard to imagine a future where things actually get better!
Sure, no one wants to read a book or watch a movie where everything is perfect and technology has made our life better instead of spawning maniacal robots, because that isn’t terribly interesting to watch or read. It is inspiring to see people overcome impossible circumstances to survive. That being said, I do think we are suspicious of the future.
It’s hard to blame us for being fearful of it when we watch the news, read our social media feed or look into our bank accounts. The future as we see it right now, doesn’t look great. Not to mention how helpless we feel to change our circumstances when powerful people make decisions that don’t benefit us.
Still, we want a better future for ourselves and the people we love.
A dystopian future is fine when we are crunching down popcorn and slurping Icees at the theater, but it is no fun to live through.
So, we have a choice to make. We can either accept our current circumstances as they are and embrace a “ride the lightning” kind of mentality. Or, we can embrace a different view of the road ahead of us.
I think there are a few ways of looking at the future. You either have a “Mad Max: Fury Road” attitude or a “Star Trek” mentality. Stick with me.
In Fury Road, things are going to hell in a handbasket…and that handbasket is ON FIRE…and its full of fireworks!!! Things are bad! Every single day you wake up in Mad Max’s world, it is a fight for survival. Mutants dressed in leather want your car. Water is in short supply and gasoline is nonexistent. It is a constant battle to keep what you have. Everyone is fighting each other for resources because resources are scarce! If you meet a stranger, you don’t trust them because they are competition! The only hope you have of survival is to be more brutal than your opponent.
Let’s press pause on this movie for just a second.
Does anybody else feel like we might be moving in this direction? I mean, we dare not say it out loud but I know I have days when I feel like putting on the leather jacket and mounting a spear gun to the front of my Subaru just in case. Okay, maybe not a spear gun, but a nerf gun? There are moments when I feel like all that is missing is a nuclear wasteland! No wonder our kids are living in anxiety and there is a tangible sense of hopelessness that settles into our psyche!
There is another way to view the future. It is a Star Trek mentality. Sure, there are days when the Klingons are attacking, Kahn wants to blow up the Enterprise, when the ship gets overrun by Tribbles and Spock is wearing a goatee, but when that happens…you have the crew of the Starship Enterprise by your side.
I mean, in case you didn’t know, they are on a “five-year mission (which stretched into twelve different series and three movie franchises) to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before!”
I love this version of the future!
A diverse crew of adventurers, on a mission of discovery together. It is overwhelmingly positive! In this view, people are working together despite their challenges and the attacks from enemies. They are dedicated to each other, like a family, and bound by a sense of duty and a common cause to make the universe a better place for ALL humankind. And let’s be fair, for aliens too.
I have always believed that the Church could and should be this. A diverse group of adventurers bent on discovery and bringing new life to the world around it. A tight knit family that loves humanity enough to stand in the way of people who are being treated unfairly, even if it doesn’t affect them directly.
Too often, the church has been a messenger of doom instead of the good news. I have seen too many of us stoke the fires of division and anger to make the world a more “Fury Road” kind of future. Guys, it’s a great movie but it is a terrible way to live.
One of my favorite writers and a brilliant thinker to boot, Michael Frost wrote this:
“…a belief in the coming kingdom of God doesn’t evoke passivity. It mobilizes the believer to embrace our common mission to be a sign, foretaste and instrument of the coming reign of God.” (“To Alter Your World”)
What a beautiful way to say it right? Part of our mission is to show people what heaven will be like by bringing little pockets of heaven to earth. Another way to say that is…
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10
I believe part of our mission while we are here on this earth is to “seek out new life” and bring new life to people who are beat up by the old one.
Our presence is a preview of heaven.
For better or for worse, a great preview of a movie really makes you want to see it! I mean, I’ve seen some bad movies because the preview made it look much better than it was. Haven’t you? Honestly, the preview for some movies are a lot better than the movie itself. This isn’t true of heaven though.
When Jesus’ followers commit to making a better future for EVERYONE, it is a picture of what heaven could be. When, out of a sense of ought-ness, we sacrifice safety and comfort for the needs of the many, we become who we were intended to be. We build a better future that way, and only that way.
Jesus instructed His disciples as they were healing people, to proclaim that heaven is close by. I think that what Jesus meant was HE was near, HE was close by.
“As you go, proclaim, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you received, freely give.” Matthew 10:7-8
The healing people experienced was a preview of heaven!
We can have a realistic view of our world as it currently is, without having a hopeless view of our future. Sure, if we resign ourselves that things will never get better than they currently are and we should just look out for ourselves, things won’t get better.
But that is a “Mad Max” view of the world and a self-fulfilling prophecy.
However, if we “seek out new life” and bring that new life to others. If we lock arms and accept each other’s diversity as a strength and not as a threat. If we can look at the future as something we build together to improve life for everyone including the “least of these”, well we might be able to “boldly go where no one has gone before.” (Cue the music)
mlsnellings 