Here's a riddle that perhaps you will be able to solve. Who am I? Some people thrive on me while others have a heart attack if my name is even mentioned. Need a hint? The title of this article will remind some people of me. That's right, I am "change."
One would have to live in a rather deep hole to not be aware of the fact that some congregations are going through tremendous change, others are experiencing more moderate change while still others are making sure that nothing changes. So, what do you think about change? Enemy? Friend? Or "it depends"?
How people view change, whether in general or a specific item, depends upon the goal which that person is trying to achieve.
Consider how the following people would consider change a "good thing" in one moment and a "bad thing" in another moment. How one views change depends upon the goal one has.
• If one's primary goal is to increase church attendance, then any change which would increase attendance would be deemed good, while any change that might threaten attendance would be considered bad.
• If one's primary goal is to follow a man such as "I follow Apollos," or "I follow _____" then any changes away from that person's teaching or practice will be judged to be a bad move. However, those same people who were opposed to these changes would readily welcome all changes which would lead toward adopting more of that person's teaching.
• If the primary goal of a sinner is to preserve his traditional way of living, then he will regard the changes necessary for repentance and faith in Jesus to be a terrible thing. On the other hand, he would regard the continuation of his self-destructive sinful practices to be good.
• If the primary goal of a religious person is to maintain their current beliefs, then the teachings of Jesus which call for change will be rejected. Consider the opposition the Pharisees gave to Christ's message. Obviously, these same people would be in favor of change if it meant that others would be adopting their desired belief system.
• If the primary goal is to draw as close to the originally intended message as possible, then any changes which might move the congregation closer would be determined to be healthy and good. However, anything which would detract the congregation from that original message would be rejected as undesirable.
I hope these examples have made the point abundantly clear that change is neither inherently good or evil. To immediately embrace something because "it's new" is very foolish. It is just as foolish to reject something because "that's not the way we've done it before." Although change can be unsettling, change is not the real issue. The real question is, "Where are you trying to go?"
Our goal in this congregation is to be as biblical as we can possibly be. Whenever we find that the text confirms our current doctrine and practice - let's not budge one iota, regardless if some unbiblical change might increase our numbers or make us more acceptable to society. Conversely, if we should find that we can be more biblical in either doctrine or practice in some area, let's aggressively make the appropriate changes so that we might more accurately represent the people whom God wants us to be. Why? Because our goal is for God to Master our lives, not to follow a Self appointed goal. Such a goal will require one to have an allegiance to truth. This means that we will reject both any fads which might be unbiblical as well as traditional ways of doing things if they are unbiblical.
The reason I've written this article is because I see so many people in various places reacting foolishly to change. They either uncritically embrace it or they uncritically reject it. We can continue to do better than that. Let's start by knowing the goal and keeping our eyes on Jesus.
Barry Newton, Copyright © 1999
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