Mal Fletcher comments

Mal Fletcher

The New Yorker described him as 'one of the truly prophetic figures of the space age.' There can be no doubt that Sir Arthur C. Clarke was very influential both in the area of sci-fi writing - he was, after all, the co-writer of 2001: A Space Odyssey with Stanley Kubrick - and, indeed, within science itself, for a great many scientists are familiar with his work.

Clarke's recent death and the media response to it remind us again of the interest we post-moderns have in all things futuristic. As I noted in my own book The Church of 2020:

'The study of the future has become big business today. Futurists charge their corporate clients huge sums of money for the benefit of their research and their prognostications about what is to come. Future study has also become a form of entertainment. Sci-fi movies haven't lost their popular appeal over the years. If anything they've grown in stature as much of today's technology fulfils the seemingly fantastic promises made by early sci-fi writers. Bookstores now feature whole sections devoted to the study of the future.'

Today, the study of history seems a little tame for many people, while the 'study' of the future is somehow sexy, interesting and evocative. For others, thinking about the future produces feelings of apprehension, if not downright fear.

A couple of years ago, during a speech I made to a group of US church leaders, I was asked whether all the technological changes I was addressing made me fearful of the future.

I replied that the future itself need not be a cause for fear; after all, it's not the technology itself that determines our destiny, but the choices we make about the uses of our technology. In the light of that, people of faith need to become involved in researching possible future trends; for faith is a powerful shaper of choices.

Europe's leading futurist, Dr. Patrick Dixon told me in a TV interview that he was sometimes surprised by the reactions of Christian people to his presentations. Some, he said, almost made 'signs of the cross' at him, pulling out scriptures to prove how dangerous the future is going to be.

Some Christians react to the future with the mentality that we should all hide under the bed, stick our fingers in our ears, and wait for the second coming to rescue us. In so doing, they do themselves and their message a great disservice, for the Christian message is one that produces boldness, courage and a settled state of mind.

Book series like Left Behind often do little more than feed paranoia in some sections of the evangelical church. They produce more heat than light. They do very little to help people who profess to have no faith deal with the pressures of life - present or future.

My friend future researcher Dr. Tom Sine writes: 'I am convinced that the number one crisis in both society and the church today is a crisis of vision... When I use the term vision, I am not talking about anything spiritual in the clouds. I simply mean the image of the better future that we want for ourselves and those we care about.' (Mustard Seed Versus Mcworld)

The church should, I think, be made up of the most positive, proactive and future-minded people on earth. For one thing, Christians serve a future-minded Lord.

Have you ever read the last chapters of John's gospel - particularly chapter 17? At the darkest point in his human existence, Jesus is looking forward, to the salvation of future generations. Even facing an imminent and horrific death, Jesus refuses to indulge in wistful nostalgia sessions. You don't find Jesus in Gethsemene sitting with his disciples around a campfire talking about the 'good ol' days'!

The writer to the Hebrews took note of this. He says that, 'for the joy still in his future' Christ went through with the cross (Heb. 12:2 - Jerusalem Bible).

Christians are also the inheritors of 'precious promises'. The entire Christian life is a walk into promise. The God of the Bible never issues a call without attaching a promise, a vision or picture of what the future will look like if we obey the call.