Today, our local newspaper announced it will no longer publish a print version. The paper will now convert to an online publication. This announcement went out to a service area of 200,000+ people. Printing and labor costs were involved, but the main driver in the decision was declining interest in a physical newspaper. Today, people are getting most of their news online.

I have mixed feelings about the passing of a local newspaper. In my high school years, I worked as a reporter for our school paper. Each week, I looked forward to holding the first run of the finished product. Today, I feel the same about reading a novel. The tactile presence of a book adds to my reading experience. But times change.

A few years ago, I quoted a futurist who noted that we had entered a time in history where more change will take place in a compressed timeframe than at any other time in human history. The world as we know it will not exist in the next 50 years. The question arises, “What will remain?”

Scripture provides insight into that question and how we can navigate times of rapid social change. What determines our emotional and spiritual stability will depend on where we have deposited our hope. 

In John 15:5-6, the Lord said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” In the first 11 verses of John 15, the word “remain” shows up multiple times. Jesus was emphasizing the critical nature of choosing to remain/abide in Him when the world appears to be spinning out of control and when our cherished institutions, like a physical local newspaper, no longer exist. In all seasons of life, we can bear Kingdom fruit no matter how radical the social change appears.

Jesus knew this time in history would arrive. Nations will rise and fall. Fear will intensify in people’s hearts. At times it might appear that hell has gained the upper hand. To parts of the Church that appear lifeless and weakened due to outside influences, the Lord would say to us as He did to the church in Sardis, “Wake up, strengthen what remains” (Revelation 3:2). 

We are living in a time when the next great revival will not be ignited by another dramatic conference. It will be when each believer rediscovers the unchangeable elements of their faith and choose to abide in Jesus as the storms of change rock the boat of our faith.