Mal Fletcher comments

But what is a promise? It is an anticipated event; something we don't yet see but believe we will. God, says the scriptures, calls things that are not as though they are. Promises point us forward; that's the way God thinks and works.

Our culture today is one that is all too often driven by fear. People make choices based on fear of their environment, fear of other groups of people and fear of what tomorrow might do to them.

Micheal Crichton describes this poignantly in his book State of Fear. Like Clarke before him, Crichton has proven to have the knack of predicting - albeit in a make believe way - developments within the scientific community.

In this particular novel, he deals with such subjects as global warming, pointing out - quite rightly - that much of the debate is one-sided and motivated by a desire for financial profit or power gained through manipulating people's fears.

Are we wrong to be concerned about global warming? Or any of the other pressing matters that bear upon our future - both societal and personal?

Not at all - especially if we are people of faith. Our faith itself demands that we take seriously our role as stewards of God's creation, and of our own lives which are a gift from him.

Yet we must not allow fear to dictate how we respond to the challenges presently facing us, or those likely to face us in future. Fear has never been a good basis for human choices - beyond, that is, the choice for survival.

Survival is, of course, essential, but most of the big changes we make to the direction of our lives are not single decisions made in the face of dangerous trigger events. They are made up of smaller, incremental choices made over time. If fear becomes the background music of our lives, we become candidates for powerlessness and despair.

In an age where so many face their future with fear, or even downright terror, it's high time for Christians to abandon an escapist mentality. It's time for us to stop abdicating responsibility for our world on the grounds that 'Jesus might return at any moment.'

It's true, he might. But, as the sage of old put it, 'We should plan as if Christ will not return for a hundred years, but live as if he may return today!'

It's part of our job, our role on earth, to put trainer wheels on the future, for people who fear it; to give people the support and courage they need to press into the unknown. That's part of what Jesus meant, I think, when he called his followers the 'light of the world'.

Have you read 'The Church of 2020' by Mal Fletcher? It's been described as 'futurism at its best', taking a prophetic look forward at what the future holds for the church and for Christians who aspire to have influence in their world.