The end has arrived …

Is this the end of a childhood fantasy shared by millions?

Today’s headline in the Palm Beach Post News was, “Discovery arrives at space station for final time.” The space shuttle Discovery is completing the final flight of all of the space shuttles, and will soon return to earth to be housed in a museum, marking the end of an era in U.S. space exploration.

As a boy, I wasn’t the only one who fantasized about the future being like “The Jetson’s” cartoon, complete with flying cars and robots. One of my earliest and most vague childhood memories was that of the entire family gathered in the living room to watch the broadcast of astronaut Neil Armstrong stepping onto the surface of the moon. But the Apollo space flights seemed like just a warm-up to the potential of the more advanced space shuttle program. Surely, the shuttle was the start of something bigger, greater, more sweeping than the Apollo era. Surely, we would visit planets and stretch the boundaries of exploration via the space shuttle, far surpassing anything the Apollo flights could ever achieve.

Yet, we’re now witnessing the end of the space shuttle era, but the fantasy of the future isn’t even close to what millions dreamed of. We have achieved iPads and laptops and smartphones and hybrid automobiles, but flying cars are nowhere to be seen. And robots are not household norms. We’re far from what we dreamed of, and there’s no new program waiting in the wings to build on what the shuttle program has accomplished.

Is this the end of our Jetson’s fantasy?

I wonder if the apostles experienced a similar dream when they listened to Jesus deliver His commission to the church: “Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

The apostles took this commission to heart and turned the world upside down with the Gospel of Jesus Christ! But at the end of their days, they likely thought of their time as we did the Apollo era: a great start, but something much greater was yet to be accomplished.

Do you think they “fantasized” of village upon town upon city hosting the gathering of thousands upon thousands every week who come to worship the risen Christ and proclaim His Gospel? We’ve achieved that.

Today, megachurches across our nation and around the world gather weekly to put on the most polished of services, complete with worship, Communion, and preaching. It’s more like a space shuttle era than the “Apollo-like” days of the apostles. Yet our reality is far from what Jesus envisioned. While some great things are happening in many churches, we’re far from a world won for Christ, but we’re too content with our current progress over the past.

But this is just a beginning!

If we can plant churches that reach thousands, what more can we do? How can we build off what has been accomplished and learned so that we plant different churches that reach tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions? How can we make ourselves so available to, and empowered by, the Holy Spirit that a robust, quickly growing megachurch looks old-fashioned and old school? How can we so impact a city with the Good News of Jesus Christ that we actually, truly reach the entire city?

We dream of such things, but we see them as more fantasy than real possibilities. Kind of like thinking the space shuttle would explore Mars and Venus and take us into deeper space. It was a fun fantasy, but did we really think it would happen?

What do you expect your church to accomplish in your community? How does that measure up to what Jesus Christ really wants to accomplish in your community through His church there?

What do you expect your life to accomplish in this world in the name of Jesus Christ? How does that measure up to what Jesus Christ really wants to accomplish in your life through the Holy Spirit?

Accomplishing Christ’s commission to His church must be more than a fantasy, but a reality every Christian ernestly strives to achieve individually through their unity in the body of Christ. It was Jesus Himself who taught us there are greater things He intends to achieve through us: “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” (John 14:12-14).

The space shuttle being retired to a museum is the end of a fantasy. We can live with that. What we can’t live with is big churches with concert-quality worship services attended by thousands as being “enough.” That is an “Apollo start” to much, much more that must follow. What is your local congregation going to bring to the future ministry of the church? What greater impact are you going to make with your life?

Scotty