We already know that change is necessary even though it’s hard. The best thing about change is that it is SO WORTH IT! Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “It’s best not to change horses while crossing the stream”…that’s a great reminder that the timing of change is a critical factor.

Yet it’s not a deterrent to change. Change must and will occur…and it has been and will be difficult. But that cannot discourage our resolve because it’s only on the backside of change that we see the greatest benefits.

The casualties of change are numerous. Wars have been fought over change. Lives have been sacrificed to the cause of change. Why pay such a high price to change a situation? Why not acquiesce to the likes of discrimination, subjugation, racial inequality, or even acts of terror? Why will a bold few cast aside fear and refuse to accept the necessity of status quo? Simple…because change is worth it!

For the first time ever (that I am aware of), the Church is shrinking. We are hemorrhaging souls! To sit back and glibly attribute the crisis to the fact that the world is going to hell in a hand basket is UNACCEPTABLE! The world has always been destined for hell. But, believers are called be salt and light in a world that is in the midst of desperation!

Anyone who thinks the kind of change that’s needed is as simple as playing contemporary music or producing a fancy light show is missing the whole point! Jesus Christ is the only means of building the church. The Bible’s pretty clear about that here and here. We have the most relevant message for the whole of creation…but there’s one problem…creation is not listening!

I wrote in an earlier post that change necessarily had to occur or we become irrelevant. We exist at a time in history where the church is unbelievably disconnected from the culture we are trying to reach. To bridge that gap…we must change.

We must identify with those we would reach with the love of Jesus! Identification does not mean conformity. It does not mean compromise. We must connect. We must identify. We must change.

It will be hard.

It has to be done.

It will be so worth it!

[EDIT] – I just read this post from Gary Lamb that echoes my series of posts on Change.

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…

Change is not easy. By nature, most people find themselves resistant to change. In exchange for something fresh, we embrace the familiar. We compromise the future of potential because we will not sacrifice the security of status quo.

This innate feature is genetically imprinted within our souls. We are built with natures that are resistant to change. Paul highlights that in Rom 7 when he expresses his own inability to resist his sinful nature. It’s not just our best efforts that are thwarted by this change-resistance. Someone once said that some people are prone to change once they see the light, but others will change only when they feel the heat. It seems that whatever the circumstance, human beings are quite naturally resistant to change.

Why? Because change is hard! There is nothing easy about change. On the individual level, change requires chiseling, chipping, refining, and reshaping elements about us that quite honestly we’ve become attached to. Sometimes it means gentle adjustments – and sometimes an absolute overhaul is required!

I had a pair of blue boating shorts since I was in high school. Actually, they started out blue, but over time they turned a sort of purplish-red with some spots of bleach. They were my favorite pair of shorts. The waistband pretty much disintegrated back during the Senior Bush’s administration. I loved them. Tabitha did not. The damage was irreparable. The only thing to do was to chunk them and start over.

Sometimes, the shape of our lives is like that. God pretty much drew a line in the sand in Jer 18:3-6 concerning his prerogative about putting His hands in our business. He said that He (as the potter) can shape us (as the clay) in whatever way “seems best to him”!

If navigating change is tenuous for an individual, than it is extremely difficult for a church (made up of a lot of individuals)! Sometime, much like my old blue shorts, we embrace the familiar rather than consider a fresh direction. Often in doing so, we settle for ministries of mediocrity because they “feel safe” rather than expose ourselves and take a risk. Instead of obeying God, we placate our people by bowing to the gold standard of Holy Spirit deterrence, “We’ve never done it that way before”!

God help us for watering down our convictions to the place where man’s approval is more coveted than that of God Almighty! Paul said in Gal 1:9-11 if he wanted to please man, he wouldn’t be servant of Christ. Far too long, the church has escaped the temporary discomfort of change and settled for status quo. This isn’t a new problem! Jesus said, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men…you have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” (Mark 7:8-9)

No more! It’s time to embrace change. Is it hard? Of course! But it’s absolutely necessary…that’s the next post.