Chris Lewis Blog

Though we have already admitted that change is hard, now let’s consider the necessity of change. The following are excerpts from a letter written to President Jackson by the then governor of New York, Martin Van Buren. It seems 1829 was a year of dangerous circumstance where a new and evil peril lurked around the corner.

January 31, 1829

President Jackson,

The canal system of this country is being threatened by the spread of a new form of transportation known as railroads.

… if boats are supplanted…serious unemployment will result. Captains…will be left without means of livelihood,[and] farmers now employed in growing hay for horses…boat builders …and harness makers would be left destitute… canal boats are absolutely essential to the defense of the United States.

As you may well know, Mr. President, railroad carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by engines which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.

Martin Van Buren

Obviously, we overcame. Unemployment was transformed into new career opportunities. Boat builders and harness makers adapted to change. We have discovered even newer means of transportation. Why did we overcome? Because we had to! Change was coming regardless of opposition.

Some will grumble, others will protest, and occasionally there will be organized forms of opposition. But in the end, change is an inevitable necessity! Change has to happen…or we become irrelevant. If you don’t believe me, answer some of these questions:

• Do you enjoy listening to the 8-Track player in your car? Or even your cassette player?
• How many times a week do you use a microwave?
• Do you grow your own food or purchase it from your favorite grocer?
• How many of you have bathrooms in your home without the benefit of indoor plumbing?

This could go on endlessly, but the point is it was not that long ago that any of these things were the norm. Even still, each of these changes was met with its own group of resistance. Yet each time, relevance led to adaptation and ultimately the status quo changed! Did you notice that? What may have seemed radical at the outset became normal. To move backward is abnormal!

What is normal today will be replaced again and again in our personal lives, in society, and yes – in our churches! Our message is the same…and Jesus Christ is ALWAYS the SAME. How we communicate in a world that has redefined the expectations of communication must change! Why is that so hard to get?

We are all works in progress. We all must encounter change. I say embrace it! Look forward to it! Paul said it great here when he said “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”!

To be continued…