Okay…let’s all shout it out loud together: I LOVE CHANGE!!! Let’s repeat that and do it again: I LOVE CHANGE!!! Just remember that Someone knows if you didn’t. 🙂 I suspect you might agree with me that if there is the equivalent of the “F” word in a church it is the “C” word. Change. Want to mess up a perfectly good situation? Start talking Change. Want to turn people off and against you? Talk Change. Want the folks in church to start singing Onward Christian Soldiers and take it seriously (the wrong way)? Talk Change. Go ahead! Use that “C” word. I dare you. I double dog dare you.
Truth is: leaders love progress. Being able to look at something and see movement forward is to offer inspiration. Speaking for myself: I know I will put forth a much stronger effort and even keep coming back for more if I can see forward progress. But progress requires change. There is a scene in the movie Its a Wonderful Life that draws my attention. It is when Sam Wainwright is shown in a factory making the hoods (plastics) for planes. During The War, factories were often converted to make other items needed for the war effort. It required change. But so often we resist change and as you know it is probably never more apparent than in the church. Many shops & businesses have been shuttered because of their failure to change with the times while those who risked change are still operating (at least for now). I can remember reading an article on GM’s demise. One factor was their dinosaur image corporately and with their product.
Organizations, like people, resist change. Andy Stanley’s book Next Generation Leader had the following quote:
“Leaders must challenge the process precisely because any system will unconsciously conspire to maintain the status quo and prevent change.”
Can you say “the church?” Accepting the status quo is like signing a death wish. It hurts to change but it is absolutely necessary. So, let me ask you. Are you a change agent or one of those who wants to “stay put.” If it was good for Paul & Silas, it was good enough for you (so you/they say). Take the step and make a change. (And no that is not a reference to a Michael Jackson song). I hope to hear from you.
In my trade, information technology, change is a constant… almost too much. However without it, the technology goes stale. If you don’t seek to improve it, someone else will. I think the same thing applies to the Church.
I’m not saying that we can improve God. You cannot improve perfection, but you can improve the methods that are used to tell people about God and His Good News.
If one does not think so… consider the printing press. The ability to mass produce Bibles and get them into the hands of everyone. At one, point the printing press was new technology.
The printing press of today is the Internet… Online Bibles can have the same level of impact that the printed Bible can have, perhaps more – provided the contents do not change.
Change is necessary, but change requires work… it requires commitment, it often requires breaking down the walls that make us comfortable and then deciding do we need walls anyway. Change is continual. Change also requires clear direction.
Well put techgeek! I should have had you write this post. You put it so much better than me. I am fond of saying, “The message stays the same; the methods change.” I definitely agree with your last paragraph. thanks for the input.