Churches need to learn to accept change too
Pastor Alice Warness
Fall is here and, as always, I am fascinated by how the trees change color. Some trees just give up their leaves without a fight.
Almost overnight, the leaves on some trees turn brown and fall to the ground. Other trees spend time making beautiful colors. Shades of yellow, orange and red decorate the landscape for many weeks.
Those are my favorites.
Then there are the resisters, the trees which hang on to the green in their leaves until it is time for the snow to fly. They refuse to give in without a fight.
I have found that people react to change in the same way that trees do. They give in easily, fight with flaming colors or resist until they die. It made me wonder what the bible said about change and how Christians should approach it.
In Hebrews 13:8, it says: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” This brought me comfort to know that my Savior never changes. He will always be there for me and provide me with what I need.
On the other hand, Ecclesiastes 3:1 says: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
This tells me that nothing in life lasts forever. The world is always learning and progressing. As Christians we need to embrace the changes and look for God’s hand at work in the change process.
That all being said, the fact is that change is hard. As humans, we get comfortable with the status quo. We are intimidated by the unknown and this makes us scared.
Change can also be painful. We are attached emotionally to our rituals and procedures and changing those makes us feel like we are losing a part of ourselves. Rituals are part of our heritage and culture and are closely tied to who we are.
Losing power is another reason that we resist change. If you worship the same way for years, you develop a sense of ownership and that gives you the power to say: “We have always done it this way.”
Many mainline churches are resisting change for all these reasons. As Christians, we need to look at change through God’s eyes instead of our own.
If the world is changing, churches need to change the way they do worship. God’s call is for us to make disciples for Christ and not to hang on to traditions just because we have “always” done it that way.
It isn’t wrong to embrace technology in churches along with the traditional rituals. We can use cell phones and card readers to pledge money and it won’t hurt anything.
Power point bulletins on a screen help some people follow along easier. We probably need a Facebook account to reach a wider range of people, and a cup of Starbucks can help those with ADHD concentrate better.
What we really need to do is look at our past practices and ask ourselves if what we are doing in our churches is still working and if not…make a change.
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