Saturday, October 14, 2006

nintendo


My son Joel is finishing up his studies on video game design. So I couldn't resist posting this from boing boing.
Before Nintendo got into the video-game business, it was a toy and game manufacturer -- here's a gallery of the pre-game Nintendo products.
What I find interesting to note is that Nintendo changed. They didn't lock themselves into their product line. They saw themselves as producing games, not specific games. I wonder if there is something the church needs to understand. Do we understand what we are about, or have we locked ourselves into a specific "product line"?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

a very interesting thought. staying open to change... being creative when you see an opportunity to push the envelope. going against the grain when you know it's right... and then a few years later it's not against the grain at all - it's the accepted norm. and hopefully a better one.

hmmm. I would like to see a collection of "new products" from the church on Squirl. ha ha!

Anonymous said...

Wow, church as I know it has changed! There are many amzaing churches! Thankfully the "product line" doesn't need to change. Why always so neg?

oncoffee said...

maybe the problem is that churches are pushing a "product line"... that seems to me to be contrary to what Jesus was all about... contrary to life in the Kingdom of God.
Understanding the church and/or the gospel as a product, feeds consumerism.

Anonymous said...

Please... I was just using your wording. If your church is pushing a product line, then you need to do more than change. You need to flee! And it would explain why you have such negative view of the church and Christians.

oncoffee said...

anonymous... I'm not sure I follow you... I'm probably not making my observation on "product line" clear.
On the one hand you say:
"Wow, church as I know it has changed! There are many amzaing churches!"
but then you say:
"Thankfully the "product line" doesn't need to change."

I was using "product line" negatively, in the sense that some churches and christians are locked into a "program" more than they are into seeing lives changed by the power of God's Spirit alive in people.

I admit there are times I am negative re some aspects of the church and christians. But then I see and read a lot of stuff to be negative about.

On the other hand there is much to be positive about. God is changing people; he is building his kingdom, he is, to use the cliche: helping his people to get out of the box. But, the sad part is, a lot of the "out of the box" ministry and life is in turn criticized by what, to continue the analogy, "product line" churches and christians.

I believe that God works in his church, his people - today. I also believe that he wants to do more than we have even dreamed of [Eph 3:20-21]

Anonymous said...

I don't see any contridiction in what I said in those two statements, so I really can not comment. I guess you are right, I misunderstood.