Back to the Future?

The movie Back to the Future is one of my favorites -- I believe it’s the best in the series. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a time machine? In the movie Marty, who is a bit caught off guard, says, "Wait a minute Doc. Ah… Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?” And the line that is forever etched in our minds, at the close of Doc’s presentation to Marty back in 1955, Doc says, “Next Saturday night we’re sending you back to the future!”

Time travel… Hmmm… Be honest. Have you ever thought about it?

What causes us to think about the past or the future? Sometimes it may be that we long to re-live a great experience in our lives. Or maybe it’s to right a wrong, or to get that second chance we felt we never had. Or maybe we long to see into the future to get a glimpse of how our story ends, or to see how our plans work out. For most of us, it is a combination of all these things.

The natural trend for our human nature is to always determine who we are by our past experiences -- both good and bad. We get caught up in measuring our self-worth based on the voices we have listened to in our lives and the things that have happened. But think about this: When what we believe about ourselves outweighs what we believe God believes about us, there is hesitation, procrastination, and disobedience.

What are you doing?

In the movie, Marty has this unexpected event happen in his life that takes him back to a time before he existed, and all he can think about is getting back to the future.

Though our human nature often causes us to get stuck in ruts reflecting on the “what ifs” and the “what could have been” of our past, the truth is that our natural place in time is always the future!

Jesus puts forth a very simple proposition. He says, “Follow Me!” In fact He says this over and over… And when we follow Jesus we are always being drawn into the future. And the future for each of those who follow Jesus represents a continuous communion with God, where each step brings us closer to the heart of God through Christ, and moves us farther away from our selfish nature.

The future is a spiritual location for humanity.

Leonard Sweet touches on this in his new book So Beautiful. He writes, “Jesus comes to us from beyond and pulls us from the future more than pushes us from the past. The Holy Spirit encourages time travel, most often to the future.” (p.48)

For the Christ-follower, the future represents the default time and space. Why? Because, our future and hope is what lies ahead of us, not what is left behind. When Jesus invites us to come and follow Him, He is calling us to a process of change that leads us into the new you and the new me. Each step we take presents an opportunity, as the Apostle Paul describes, to “workout” our salvation.

These steps behind Jesus often feel strange and difficult. They lead out of our old, complacent and comfortable life and into a life that becomes more and more like Christ and more and more dependent on God. And the experiences along the journey (good and bad) strengthen our faith. We begin trusting beyond our self and in the One who calls us continually into the future.

Where are you? Do you find yourself dwelling on the past? Are you consumed with trying to live into perceived expectations of those around you? Do you work tirelessly at trying to build a constructed persona? Are there regrets in your life that you just can’t let go of? Do you continually get “caught up” in life’s hamster wheel, trying to justify everything in order to protect the identity you have constructed?

Jesus is still saying, “Follow Me…”

Step out. Get in stride with God. Start today. Don’t hesitate. Don’t procrastinate. Set your eyes on Christ…

It’s time to get back to the future! To the new you!