One of my favorite posters shows a tornado out in the country. The caption on the poster reads, “WINDS OF CHANGE: Change can bring exciting new opportunities; however, it can also destroy all you hold dear.”
That, in a nutshell, is why we sometimes fear change. We don’t know what will happen if we change. Change might make things better, but it might also make things worse. Besides, change means going away from the things we like, the things we’re familiar with. Even if change might ultimately improve things, we sometimes resist it simply because we don’t want to give up the things we’re used to.
Many churches are doing things the same way they’ve been doing them for many years. There was a time when things were going well this way. There were lots of people going to church and the churches had plenty of money to pay their bills and operate mission projects. At that time, churches saw no need to change anything.
Now, though, there are a lot of churches that are in decline. Still, though, we sometimes have a hard time seeing a need to change anything. After all, we think, we did this before, and it worked. There’s no reason it can’t work again now.
The thing is, though, that it’s not working now. Often, the reason is that the world has changed. The things we did because they fit the people and the society that existed at that time. They were things that fit a world in which there were no computers and no ipods. They were things that fit a world in which there was no cable TV and no satellite dishes. They were things that fit a world in which popular music was much different than it is now. They were things that fit a world in which families were often home in the evening, rather than going to school or community events five or six nights a week.
When things are in decline, we cannot continue to do things the way we have been and expect the decline to just magically go away. We need to do some things differently. We know that, and yet we still don’t really want to change. Maybe the society has changed, but sometimes we, ourselves, haven’t changed. Because we haven’t changed, we still like the old ways of doing things. We don’t want to give them up. We don’t want to see the things we hold dear destroyed.
The words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 seem appropriate here:
For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
The point is not that we do things my way. The point is not that we do things anyone’s way. The point is that we do whatever we can to bring the gospel to everyone we can. The point is that we spread God’s word and share God’s love to as many people as we can. If that means we need to change some things, that’s okay. If it means we need to do some things in ways that I don’t personally like, that’s okay, too, because it’s not about doing things in ways I like. It’s about doing things for the sake of the gospel.
Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations. That means we need to use every method at our disposal to spread God’s word and share God’s love.
Change can destroy what we hold dear. As Christians, though, we’re not called to hold a certain method of worship dear. We’re not even called to hold our church dear. What we’re called to hold dear is Jesus Christ. If we keep our eyes focused on him, any decisions we make regarding change will be the right ones.
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