Unnecessary Equipment

Jesus spoke to 5000 men plus women and children on a Galilean hillside without benefit of a sound system. It makes me think that this particular troublesome technology may not be necessary in the new heavens and new earth. I wonder what else won’t be necessary. 

Let’s start with the obvious: pastors. Why would you need a pastor when you have immediate, face-to-face access to Jesus Himself? Nursing homes and funerals? I don’t think so. Pastors may need to be re-trained. But harder to think about: what about Bibles? Once you got married, did you still sit around reading love letters? Not when you could interact personally with your spouse. And so it seems that our devotion will not be so Book-dependent when in the company of the Person. 

I am not arguing against the present role of pastors or Bibles. These are appointed by God for a particular purpose, during a particular time. Perhaps an illustration would be Israel’s use of manna during those 40 years of wilderness wandering. God was good and faithful to supply this gift to them 6 days a week. But the day they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, the manna ceased, as they were to now live off the land they were inheriting. 

Well, what about faith, hope, and love? Do we still live by faith in that day when faith becomes sight? We will still take God at His word - a definition that I use of faith, - and yet the proper conclusions will be so much more obvious. And when hope is realized, is it still hope? I wouldn’t rule hope out, because each day holds anticipation for tomorrow, and in this glorious future, each tomorrow will hold its own promise. But what about love? Well, here we must insist that love will never be replaced, except that our experience and expression of love in the new heavens and new earth will be so much more glorious, that I wonder if we will even recognize the old in the presence of the new. 

What a release when a child “graduates” from sitting in a car seat and can use a regular seat and belt (perhaps the real release is for parents and grandparents not having to contort themselves trying to get them inserted and latched)! What a relief when the cast is removed once the broken bone has healed! What a reconciliation is enjoyed when sins are confessed and offenses are forgiven! All such things, and more, will be left behind, as followers of Jesus step into a glorious future. 

And, once more, think of it - no need for pastors. Glorious!