I’m roughly of the same vintage as the Skagit River Bridge, north of Seattle, which collapsed a few years ago after a truck’s load of drilling equipment bumped the bridge’s steel framework. The bridge was described as “functionally obsolete.” News reports at the time of the collapse reported that nearly 85,000 additional US. bridges were also “functionally obsolete,” according to the Federal Highway Administration.
Like a lot of those 85,000 bridges, some of us could probably use a bit of maintenance and repair. We’re walking around with some visible (and invisible) signs of damage and aging.
Thankfully, unlike aging bridges, Christians don’t become functionally obsolete as we age. Granted, some of us don’t age gracefully; others of us are stuck in outmoded ministry models, fighting change at every turn, but we always remain adequate for our task of being disciples. Whatever our age, whatever our abilities, wherever we find ourselves, we are more than adequately equipped to be disciples of Christ. “Are you still breathing?” asks Sister Joan Chittister. “Then you’ve still got work to do in the name of Christ.”
This message is excerpted from “Functionally obsolete?” by Linda Post Bushkofsky from the June 6, 2013, blog of the Women of the ELCA.
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