Blockbuster & It’s Loss of Identity

Can you think of a time someone lost their purpose?  They began with such a strong understanding of who they were and what they were to accomplish but then things got cloudy…

I always think of the Blockbuster that my family would rent movies from when I was a kid.  Blockbuster had a very clear purpose of providing entertainment within their community.  However, as technology changed, the business suffered because they lost sight of that purpose and made questionable business decisions that resulted in the closure of the company.  Now, I hear that there is one location open out West that serves as a strange vacation rental in which you can sleep in the middle of the seemingly working store – with the videos and candy set up like it never closed down.

When purpose is lost, humanity tends to lose our way.  That is why we are so thankful to have the Scripture to show us Christ.  Things like the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:36) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) help us to refocus on what matters most to God and follow His unfailing ways.

This should permeate the ways in which we think about the world and the culture that surrounds us.  Truth and grace find a perfect balance when we understand God’s love for His creation.  While we serve as salt which preserves the culture, we are also meant to be the light which shows the goodness and power of His love – something we should always seek to display to the world.

That is why abortion is not an argument to be won.  With our Scriptural framework in view, abortion is not political argumentation, but it’s about showing the world the love of the Author of Life who wishes that no life be demeaned in this way – a truth which also dignifies those who disagree with us.

LGBTQ+ discussions cease to be a fight for freedom or rights and becomes a passionate plea for the world to understand the heart of a God who created marriage to picture the love of Christ for His Church – something we want them to experience as well.

Healthy parenting, fatherhood, adoption, or foster-parenting continues to be something the Church is passionate about, not simply to see children be loved, but to testify to the goodness of our Father.  Through doing these things well, we set a context in which the world can glorify our Father in heaven, not just to fulfill children’s earthly needs.

Race also ceases to be a political tool but sets a context through which we show that we serve a God of reconciliation and that He created all with dignity, even those who disagree with us. 

Environmental conservancy becomes about glorifying our God who created us to steward all that surrounds us, including people and nature.

Immigration becomes God’s command for His chosen people to remember how they were sojourners in the wilderness – so that they might protect and serve those who are in great need.

These are only a few topics of conversation that can so easily entangle us and keep us from running the race that is set before us.  In our humanity, it becomes so easy for us to stand only for truth, while creating out-groups that convince others that they are unworthy of God’s love, but then we remember that the Gospel necessarily and inherently includes the grace which saved all of our souls, even when we were yet His enemies. 

God’s Word, the Lamp unto our feet is our beautiful reminder of what God has called us to be in this world and that is a community which has not been created to win arguments, but to do all that we can to bring glory to Him and draw people into relationship with Him.  Please join me this week in noticing all of the conversations that our culture puts before us and recognizing every evangelistic opportunity that they present.  Praise God that abortion, LGBTQ+ discussions, or race are not earthly arguments to win, but are instead opportunities to draw others into God’s goodness and love through the truth and conviction which are among His greatest gifts to humanity.

Love you all,

Young Adult Minister – Evan McNeff