12. Ponies, Pews, and Pipe Organ People

Those of us living in the northwest corner of Missouri should have been among the first to learn the lesson. It was, after all, taught as far back as about 1860 by way of the Pony Express.

The organizers of the Pony Express devised a system by which the mail could be delivered from the western edge of Missouri to the western edge of the country. It was a daunting undertaking that required planning a route, finding quality horses, developing a human resources department that could convince riders to risk weather and safety, and building outposts along the way. Simply making it happen once was a great success. Making it last was even more difficult.

Unfortunately, soon after the developers established the route, the railroad came along. The Pony Express began as a system for delivering mail. However, instead of taking advantage of the new technology, the Pony Express became a useless delivery system. Apparently, it thought is business was the "pony" while its real business had been mail.

Within a few years, the railroads began to criss-cross northwest Missouri. Every seven to 10 miles, small communities sprung up along the path of the rail lines. The railroad was a can't miss proposition. It offered a quick way to transport people, goods, and mail. It was an upgraded delivery system when compared to the Pony Express. It appeared to be the wave of the future.
That only lasted until the gasoline powered family car came along. The railroad should have recognized the new technology as an improved way for it to carry out its deliveries. Had it taken advantage of cars and new roads, it might have become the postal service, Fed Ex, UPS, and a nationwide public transit system all rolled into one. Instead, it allowed its rails to get it off track.

More recently, the postal system has been making news because it is not making money. It is losing customers and revenue to a new technology called the internet. Well, the technology isn't so new anymore. The postal service failed to take notice of a new method for it to do its job. Even though electronic mail was quickly recognized by the public as a way to do what they used to do with stamps, the postal service continued to try to deliver messages by requiring the sender to write a letter, put it in an envelope, out a stamp on the envelope, walk the envelope to a mailbox, and wait a couple of days for the receiver to get the message. That is like trying to get a pony to do the work while a train comes whistling past. The postal service has failed because it kept hiring postal workers rather than computer programmers.

So, what does all that have to do with the Church? Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who become part of the community of faith called the Body of Christ. For a time in our society, that meant gathering people in buildings that had stained glass windows, pipe organs, and a tower spire out front. It meant putting people in rows of seats so they could listen to the more educated preacher who was delivering the message to them. It meant sending the people off to Sunday School in groups divided by age so they could learn the faith. It meant reserving Sunday morning as church time.

In many of our places, we are delivering our message by way of a system we were using, in some cases in buildings we were using, when the Pony Express began its 18-month venture. While we sit in our pew and listen quietly to the preacher, the people outside our walls are chatting on Facebook, twittering their tweets, and recording four shows at the same time on their DVR. It may well be that when they see one of our churches, they are reminded of the postal service, railroads, and maybe even the Pony Express.

Here, then, is the question: Are we called to be the Sunday morning place where people go to sing the old time favorites and have the sermon delivered on the pipes of an organ, a sermon, and a prayer, or are we called to make disciples of Jesus Christ by using the technologies the people are using to communicate with each other?