Greetings from New York!
Welcome to Fall — that is what has been going through my mind for the past week. Cooler temperatures are a joy to me; I look forward to this season starting early August, and this joy lasts until I am finally driven mad by the fixation on all things flavored pumpkin — usually by mid-October.
This year finds me at a conference in the U.K. enjoying autumn in Oxfordshire and several full days of seminars and panels on global events and trends. These include issues of geopolitics, finance, terrorism, and cyber security — not your typical conference topics. Yet these are all of significant importance to Christians...or at least, they should be.
As Christians we are called to be faithful witnesses in this world. We have a part in God’s redemptive plan of making all things new, of contributing in tangible ways to the flourishing of the world. We are called to be mediators of God’s blessing and rule over the earth. All of which requires an active and growing knowledge of the world — where it continues to reflect God’s beautiful intent, and where it is profoundly broken by sin. Global events and trends ought to inform how we think about our engagement through our work, our civic involvement and our relationships.
At the conference closing the speaker referenced W.B. Yeat’s poem The Second Coming, a poem the Irish poet wrote in the aftermath of World War I. The opening lines are haunting — then and now:
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart, the center cannot hold;
...
As the elites no longer seemed able to protect traditional culture and values of Europe the question arose of whether the age of Christianity was ending. Was the center holding?
Today the question is equally apt as we fly further and further from the center and no longer hear our falconer. As the church, do we still hear our falconer? Are we engaging closely enough in our work and neighborhoods, in the issues of our community and the systems that shape our lives to act redemptively? This thought is why Christian Union New York continues to pursue the development of leaders to engage and transform culture – to be part of this redemptive process that brings us back to the falconer who sustains and calls us. The Oxford conference is part of equipping us for this purpose.
Scott Crosby
Ministry Director
Christian Union New York
For more information on Christian Union New York Bible Courses and activities, or resources available to you please contact Scott Crosby.
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