Some are in their heyday to mock any who call for change in the church. They besmirch them as change-agents. I am a change agent because Jesus was. Change would be found in scriptures under words like new, renewal, born again, repent, and grow. We are called by God to mature in Christ which would insist upon moving from one point to yet another.
How much change must we make and how much can we take? As long as Jesus is Master and as long as we are disciples we will live under perpetual change. We will be asked to learn what we yet do not know. We will be required to reach out when we don't know how. We will be called to opportunity when we've no experience.
I ran into a Baptist pastor at coffee. He came over to my table to ask what we are doing to keep the drain from the church? His is losing so many young people because they have preserved the church of the 70s. Later this afternoon I learned of a woman now in her late 40s who was one of our special teens when I moved to Memorial. She lives severely depressed and far removed from any pursuit of God. She was raised in a home which didn't study or grow in the Lord but was in hot and critical pursuit of any change the church encountered.
Failing to change may sound somewhat preservationalist, but it is highly costly. Spirituality will require steady and even uncomfortable adjustment...again...and again....and again. We will want to keep growing in God. Ours is not the goal to become a worldly church adjusting to culture's whim, but a faithful group adapting to the freedoms found in the prison-breaking Jesus. God will reveal some of our stances as wood, hay, and stubble.
We should want to make all the changes needed to groom the body to look more like the modern Him than the past us.
17 comments:
Disciples of Jesus live on Repentance Road.
-Wes
So, Terry, what "change" are you suggesting the church should be open to...?
John,
Any change which would bring new life to the body without violating scripture. There is a vast array of possibilities. One congregation may not need to change in an area when another would be well-advantaged.
An example of that would be in adding a Worship Minister to staff. This changed Memorial for the better but such most likely would not be most effecient to other congregations. The fact we made the change disrupted some here, but it proved renewingly valuable.
Too, there is significant need to change when the Word calls for it. An example of this is regarding the direct operation of the Holy Spirit. This is not optional from church to church. Such a change from believing he doesn't work to believing he does has drastically changed Memorial.
The list is unending just as our maturing/growing in Christ is unending.
I hope this give a thumbnail explanation to your question.
Change does not always result in growth but growth always results in change! A follow-up truism: Growth NEVER happens without change!
I agree brother! To grow we need to keep changing! The only thing that does not need change is the saving powerful Gospel of Jesus and the way into the Gospel - by being baptized. That cannot change for then it would cease to be the saving powerful Gospel of Jesus! We, on the other hand, are free to worship God in Spirit and truth and as we grow we will change in how we worship to accommodate the spiritual growth we experience! If our worship becomes static, liturgical and sacramental then we are worshipping according to the truth of man and not of God.
wow! As usual, you challenge me... 'change' was the very topic our small group discussed last Sunday night. We used an excerpt from a Rick Atchley sermon in which he observed that we are sometimes so landlocked by our traditions that we cannot change...
As organizations grow, they take on a life of their own... and they seek (and sometimes violently defend) stasis.
Churches are not immune... perhaps they are especially prone to becoming tradition-laden...
At some point, however, it simply boils down to a choice between 'mission and tradition'.
Blessings!
tm
You know, change constantly occurs everywhere...then why do so many Christian's totally resist even the slightest changes in "the routine" of their religious habits? You probably can visualize the tumult this causes to those who have convinced themselves that "we have it down pat and that's the way it is...that's the way it must stay...that's the way it's gonna' be" Not true...as we grow/mature in Him...as the Spirit works in our lives...how can we help but change? Something I stressed to my Chinese students was a quote from Benjamin Franklin, "When you're through changing...you're through." I thank God for his direction in encouraging me to change...and oh, how I've grown. Hope I never stop changing!
Amen!
our church must reflect the changing ways of our culture. The younger generations are starving for a relational worship experience, instead of the orderly, introspective worship of their fathers.
The younger crowds are also starving for putting their faith in action. We lose so many kids to other churches because those churches are finding ways to put these kids to work.
Thank you always for your encouragement and sound wisdom.
I think you laid out your case with the fact that the NT is filled with the idea of change. In our tradition we seem to be frightened to death of change because our trump card has been in "being right" and if we change anything, for better or worse, there is the implication that we might have possibly been wrong on something.
Very good thoughts here, Terry. As always, thank you for encouraging and challenging us.
Okay, I'll risk being the odd-man out here. I really think we've missed the core issue here. The "change" we need does not involve worship styles or cultural innovations that attract seekers. The "change" the world is looking for comes in the form of an authentic expression of one's faith - regardless of how it is expressed (through traditions, rituals, etc.) Just look at the fastest growing religious movement in the world - the Muslim faith. Nothing could be more legalistic, ritualistic and non-culturally relevent AND YET they are attracting and converting thousands - WHY, because they are authentic. They believe in what they practice.
Instead of condemning our "traditions" and "old-world" rituals, our hearts must be converted to Jesus. Culturally adapting our worship services doesn't even come close to being the answer. It's what we've (COC) allowed ourselves to become while holding to our traditions.
Change! I see it in God's creation everywhere. Yet, the change and the cycles are what keep things constant, dependable, authentic, and in balance. I see the change of the seasons...the constant sluffing off of cells in our bodies to make room for new cells...the slow steady process from caterpillar to butterfly...
Jesus knew we needed that same kind of process going on in each of us. He knew how to facilitate change-from the inside out. We all have different backgrounds, learning styles, and needs. He met them where they were: to one He gave a healing touch... to another He gave a listening ear... with some, He discoursed... to some He gave strong reprimands... to others He gave a miracle... to many He fed bread and fish... What a change agent! Glory!
Meeting needs... Equipping... Growth... Maturity... Flourishing... Transformation...
John,
First of all, thank you for having a name other than anonymous. So many who disagree hide. Don't worry about being the odd man out. We are all odd men/women out in several circles. You make some good points and some not so good ones....my opinion.
I agree with you to look beyond our worship style. We have slipped into believing church happens within the hour. I do believe that our worship assemblies being dull and rote leave members and seekers concluding this boredom is reflective of their God and He has nothing much of life to offer.
I do agree with you that the Muslim community is raging in numerical growth. However, it is not because they are authentic but because they are mistakenly legalistic. It is easier for man to submit to rules than to search for the abundant life in Jesus. Legalism builds upon the pride of men; we do things better than other religions, we do more things than other religion. Legalism will always attract those too lazy to think but hungry to belong to a cause.
When you say, "Instead of condemning our "traditions" and "old-world" rituals, our hearts must be converted to Jesus.", I believe this to be a mixed message. Hearts converted to Jesus will do as he did and for why he died; he put a dagger in the "traditions" and "old-world" rituals.
Christianity...authentic and even first-century...has always challenged to status quo of the field of believers to pull us more truly toward the abundant life of Jesus.
Odd man out? Ah, I surely understand that feeling....and you aren't alone.
John,
First of all, thank you for having a name other than anonymous. So many who disagree hide. Don't worry about being the odd man out. We are all odd men/women out in several circles. You make some good points and some not so good ones....my opinion.
I agree with you to look beyond our worship style. We have slipped into believing church happens within the hour. I do believe that our worship assemblies being dull and rote leave members and seekers concluding this boredom is reflective of their God and He has nothing much of life to offer.
I do agree with you that the Muslim community is raging in numerical growth. However, it is not because they are authentic but because they are mistakenly legalistic. It is easier for man to submit to rules than to search for the abundant life in Jesus. Legalism builds upon the pride of men; we do things better than other religions, we do more things than other religion. Legalism will always attract those too lazy to think but hungry to belong to a cause.
When you say, "Instead of condemning our "traditions" and "old-world" rituals, our hearts must be converted to Jesus.", I believe this to be a mixed message. Hearts converted to Jesus will do as he did and for why he died; he put a dagger in the "traditions" and "old-world" rituals.
Christianity...authentic and even first-century...has always challenged to status quo of the field of believers to pull us more truly toward the abundant life of Jesus.
Odd man out? Ah, I surely understand that feeling....and you aren't alone.
Terry,
Funny, I still feel anonymous...even a first name doesn't reveal who I am or what I believe. I will put myself on the line and tell you that I like (enjoy) our COC traditions (i.e. weekly communion, acapella, low-key reflection [read: non-pentecostal], but I also realize that they are just that - traditions - and it's what I bring to them that gives them meaning to me. Okay...
But I disagree with you concerning the belief that those converting to Islam is due largely to legalistic laziness. If that were true - please God, give us some! Terry, millions of Muslim believers would die for that belief - and that's what I meant by authentic. Think back to the 50's and 60's of our own fellowship when we were one of the fastest growing religious bodies in America. Why...I suggest to you that it was a legalistic authenticity that passionately drove us to reach out. We believed that unless you believed and worshiped according to our understanding of the truth, you were lost. We pushed and preached our "traditions" as the truth of God and "attracted" great sums.
But now, two and three generations later that fervor and zeal is not owned or believed by our children.
So, what have we done? Many among us think the answer is to "change" the traditions and that will revitalize our hearts - I don't think so! All we accomplish is establishing new traditions that in 5-10 years will need to be changed again.
If the traditions keep us from obeying God's will, then they must be rejected. Jesus was certainly all for that (Matthew 15). But I believe our challenge rests more in the heart...we've placed our trust in our new forms of worship (not necessarily wrong), but we believe its the form that will revitalize and attract - when it should be and must be "Christ in you, the hope of glory."
John - I will echo Terry's sentiment that you show more courage than most to sign your name to a post which disagrees... thank you for that.
You also make good and reasonable points, and you don't seem to be arguing just to be argumentative... thank you for that as well...
As a product of the generation you speak of (brought up "in the church" by a good momma and daddy steeped in the traditions of the COC of the 1950s)... and as an ardent 'keeper' and 'defender' of those COC traditional views for 37 years (the last 9 of those as a deacon in that very traditional church - which, sadly, has shrunk in number by almost 50% in the past decade), please allow me to comment on your conclusion as to why we grew so much in the 1950s and 1960s...
I believe you are spot on with your reasons for why we grew so rapidly...
but I believe it has become self-evident that such growth was very shallow! I (and most of my 40-something friends - from all different religious stripe, incidentally) have looked up - in the past decade - from our ritualistic, hollow, stretch-the-scripture-to-prove-our-doctrine-at-all-costs, 2-hour-a-week, tied-to-a-building religion and said, almost in unison: "CAN THIS BE IT??!!??"
We are now reaping the harvest of such shallow 'religion'! The reason your 'fervor and zeal' is not 'owned' by your children is because the 'passion' you speak of was almost completely misplaced... and a genuine and thoughful inspection of those methods is what has caused most of my generation to seek true spirituality... or just give up and leave God altogether.
It reminds me of the missionary trips I was proud to be on in the mid 90s... we bought one of those panoramic cameras for the sole purpose of bringing back a picture of the 100s of people we lined up and baptized in the rivers of Ghana, West Africa... you know the rest of it... most baptizees no more knew what they were doing than an infant being sprinkled... but we put that panoramic photo up on the powerpoint screen for all the members to see (so we could all congratulate ourselves on how good we did)... and when we returned a couple years later, none of these folks were living converted lives of true Christianity.
And, yes, the muslim religion IS growing rapidly... for EXACTLY the same wrong and shallow reasons the COC grew so wildly in the 50s and 60s! I would expect that these Muslim converts will follow suit with their Christian predecessors and look up and discover that there is not much 'there' there.
You actually make the case for spiritual relevance which Terry is suggesting... (and I agree with you and Terry that this is NOT ONLY about our worship assemblies)... and, yes, there WILL be change in 5 years... and again in 3 years after that... so what!
I am a horrible creature of habit... the organized religion of my father's generation is "perfect" for me!
But I must tell you that His Spirit is leading me on a very uncomfortably exciting ride... for the sake of my 3 precious daughters.
I don't know where it is leading me and my family. I only tell you that I am trying humbly and gratefully to submit to His leading, and my family is more 'spiritually healthy' than I could have dreamed!
God Bless us all as we try to live relevant and meaningful lives as we journey toward Heaven.
respectfully,
tim
John,
Thank you for your sincerity, and the passion in your belief's. Like the others, I appreciate the opportunity to have a calm and productive discussion regarding these issues. If one were to take your comments to their natural ends, however, I think it proves Terry's point. You say the reason the church grew earlier is due to the "legalistic authenticity" of our practices and belief's in the 1950's and 1960's, and that there is no need to change those because if we do we'll only have to change them again in a few years. But that boxes in our "authenticity" with God only to a time period when we were practicing our faith and worshipping that way, doesn't it? The Kingdom of God is bigger than any worship style or period of time. What we need are ways to connect to our culture as we worship, so others can see our "authenticity." If we don't connect to them, we can be as authentic as possible but no one will see Jesus or notice God. The Kingdom is much larger than our "understanding of the truth," as you put it. If it's not, then instead of allowing ourselves to become more like God, we've reduced God to be more like ourselves.
Question: Is there a difference, in this case between legalistic authenticity and authentic legalism?
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