Went for a short walk with an important friend this evening and along the way we found ourselves, as is usual, discussing the church; not the church universal, but the local church we serve. As we were speaking, he listed a number of ministries that were growing, even flourishing as the church in general is stagnating at best, or even moving backward. As he described each of the ministries, I realized they all had some things in common, so I asked him if he recognized the commonalities.
He thought for a moment, and as I usually do, not being able to wait, I blurted out the answer, “There are two things in common across all of these ministries. First, each of them is filled with people almost all of whom are under the age of 30. Second, none of these groups is encumbered with a history with traditions.”
He immediately agreed with the first, but was unsure about what I meant about traditions, so I explained, “when I say they don’t have a history with traditions, I generally mean that they don’t come to the church with a preconceived notion of what the church should look like and how the church should act based upon how they have seen other churches do things.” After explaining, he stated that he basically agreed.
Now, I believe these common traits among these flourishing ministries are important for one very basic reason. The age and the lack of a history with traditions makes them more willing to accept change. Yep, I said it, change. For some reason we (being either those who grew up in the church and/or people over 35) have a serious and ministry hindering aversion to change. We dislike it. In fact, I would argue that we bow up against it like a tom cat cornered by a dog.
Change by itself is not necessarily good. God by definition does not change. His character is the antithesis of change. However, we (individual nor corporately) are God. We do see God use change for positive ends. Christ became something which He was not before when he became flesh (John 1:14), so in a manner of speaking He changed. Therefore, change is not necessarily bad either.
The issue is not necessarily the change, but the purpose for the change. By definition, nothing can grow without change. Whether that growth is deeper, or taller, or wider, or any other-er, to grow is to change. Unfortunately, we too often insist that growth can or must occur apart from change because change is uncomfortable. It is inconvenient. It is painful. No argument from me there. Read about what Christ gave up to come to earth in the form of man and we see that change can be all of these things. However, change is often necessary.
Obviously we should not change for change’s sake. BUT, why do we refuse to change for Christ’s sake? We should evaluate and determine when and how to change. We hold onto tradition and endure the uncomfortable task of defending the traditions we have turned into sacred cows. Instead, we should be considering whether those sacred cows should be sacrificed on the altar. We need to be able to put everything on the alter, holding nothing back. Nothing is exempt from potential change. Why? So that we become more effective and efficient in making disciples, for God’s glory, not our comfort. What cow’s do you need to sacrifice? Are you willing to lay it all on the alter?
