It was a few years ago that I was sitting in a business meeting and discussing a number of topics with a CEO from a prominent industry. During that meeting, he shared that he routinely consulted with a “Futurist”. A Futurist is someone who contemplates what life and business might be like in the future. Probably too simpler a definition….hopefully you get the picture.
At the time, “Futurists” were rare and their scenario planning for the future also seemed way out there. They were not predicting what would happen. Their role was to challenge leaders to think beyond what they could see on the immediate horizon. The benefit for this CEO was to be better prepared and take decisions that offered broader flexibility and chart longer term success.
In our society, we encourage scenario planning. We appreciate efforts to hypothesize a future known state. It’s not as long-sighted as a futurist might challenge us to be, yet such efforts are pragmatic and highly focussed. They use a mix of data points to model a future state within a number of known/ anticipated outcomes.
Over the past weeks, quickly turning into months, we learned that scenario planning and modeling were the back-bone of social-distancing policy and isolation to flattening the curve. Thereby proving the effectiveness of scenario planning.
You’ve probably seen the 80’s movie “Back to the Future” and there’s no doubt that anyone who could fast forward 20-30 years would probably think about the choices made today.
However, it’s difficult for most of us to think beyond what we can realistically see. Some are early adopters, more are part of the pack and adopt when feeling secure. Few are pioneers.
Pioneers are the ones who blaze a trail, take risks to find or deliver something new.
Jesus is a true pioneer. He set a new path for living that was not bound by traditions that had been formed over centuries. He re-set a way to focus on what God wanted and how to play a role in preparation for a future Kingdom to come.
Some say Jesus was a prophet……he is far more than a prophet, he is God’s son and shared God’s revelations with us. Revelations that were applicable 2000+ years ago when Jesus walked the earth are applicable yesterday, today and tomorrow. Jesus shared amazing promises and also shared things that would happen and will happen in the future. They were not scenario plans nor futurist postulations….and he didn’t credit any of his words to himself. The book of John and chapter 12 verses 49-50 records Jesus saying: “For I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak.”
Unlike Back to the Future, we can’t see what our life might be like in 20-30 years or what the world might be like in 100 years. However, through the revelation of Jesus Christ, we can see what’s in store for us and the world. It’s exciting and, for those who follow Jesus and become reconciled to God, it will be a time like no other full of peace, love, kindness and fulfillment as all will worship God in unity.
If you would like to know more about what is promised to those who follow Jesus and become reconciled to God, contact us.