How Did These Guys Get So Smart?

Credit cards, automobiles, buildings and all sorts of gadgets are getting smart. So why is it so hard for Christians to get smart-chipped, empowered for smart, effective ministry? What needs to happen to smart-size the church?

Everything is getting "smart" these days. Mobil Oil has introduced its "Smart Pass," a gadget you simply wave at a gas pump and you can immediately fill you car with fuel and be on your way - no more credit cards and no more cash.


In the prototype stage of development is the next generation of the "smart car," which gauges the distance between your vehicle and the car in front of you and automatically slows your car down when that distance narrows beyond safe limits. Implied in this technology is that tailgating is not too "smart."


In cities all across the country, architects are designing and builders are constructing "smart buildings" (to differentiate themselves from the inferior smarts of other "smart" innovations, these buildings are called "intelligent"). These "intelligent" buildings control every aspect of a building's energy, security and communication needs through an integrated network that can do everything from relaying a telephone call to wherever a person might be in the...