Yet
I recently listened to a podcast that really challenged my thinking. A key word (at least to me) was “yet.” I’m not sure if the speaker used the word “agenda” in his podcast, but that is exactly what he was discussing.
To be fair, our Lord used this word because He, indeed, had an agenda. That agenda was expressed in these words:
Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
As it is written of me in the scroll of the book. (Heb. 10:7)
Other passages could be consulted which would testify to the fact that Jesus knew his purpose, had a divinely determined “agenda,” and fulfilled His mission. That, in part, is why He could say two different things on two different occasions:
“…my time has not yet fully come” (John 7:8)
“my time is at hand” (Matt. 26:18)
Unfortunately, the speaker on the podcast had something totally different in mind. In fact, what he had in mind were efforts to minimize or even get rid of some of the fundamental principles of biblical teaching. While I do not agree with the speaker on some matters of doctrine, I agree with what he had to say about the word “yet.”
I’ve heard about it. I’ve read about it. I’ve experienced it.
The “it” in those statements is an attempt by a person or a group to move people away from what can proven to be true and move them in a direction that fits their agenda. I remember reading a book a few years ago written by a self-described “change agent” in the church. While I do not remember everything in the book, I do remember something that sounds suspiciously like yet.
As I remember it, he admitted that what he was proposing would meet with some resistance. Again, as I remember it, his advice for “modernizing” the church was to take two steps forward and one step back if necessary. It might not be yet time for those changes, but the suggestion was that they would happen if the “change agents” were sufficiently motivated and determined.
It was of interest to me that the author gave no consideration to sticking with what was tried, true, and biblical. That would never do for somebody with an agenda that contained some of the changes like the ones he was proposing. The fact that it was not time yet would not deter him (and others) from continuing their efforts.
I am now seventy-six years of age. There are negative things going on today that would have been unthinkable when I was the age of my grandchildren. I am convinced that the reason for much of that can be laid at the feet of committed groups of people with an agenda and who understood the power and force of yet.
I’m wondering about another group of people who at least claim to be committed. Their (our) commitment is to the One who commissioned His followers to:
Go ye, therefore and teach all nations… (Matt. 28:19)
Go ye, into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature… (Mark 16:15)
If I understand the New Testament correctly, the followers of Jesus did a great job of accepting that challenge in a relatively short time after He went back to heaven.
I’m wondering why that hasn’t happened yet during my lifetime.
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn