Changes in the Church

Why are people so uncomfortable with change? To be honest, I don't think it's in our nature; I think it's in our culture.

Our men's group just finished studying the book Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul, and it was a life-altering study for me. One of the key points is that as men we have a deep inner need for three basic things: (1) an adventure to live, (2) a battle to fight, and (3) a beauty to rescue. Author John Eldredge says that these three things are at the core of who we are as men. Women, on the other hand, have slightly different needs. They want to be captivating, they want to join us in our adventure, and they want us to fight for them.

John Eldredge points out that the American church at large demasculates men by convincing us that we should be passive, nice, and sugar-coated. Contrast this with the Chinese church where the men are encouraged to suffer and die for the sake of the Gospel! Now that's an adventure!

Back to the issue of change (I'll tie this together in a moment).

This past week, my church encountered a change that shook things up quite a bit. We're rather small with an average attendance of 50 people on a Sunday, so this wasn't too dramatic--but it was change none the less! In short, we rotated everything in our main meeting room 90 degrees to the right.

Personally, I have to admit that I was a little annoyed because it became a lot more restricting. Everything was closer together because the room is narrower in this direction. Everyone was seated closer together, and all our musicians were squeezed together too.

But I also have to confess that the Lord used this whole scenario to reveal to me an area where my sinful nature still had not been dealt with. After the meeting, several people came up to me and made comments on how they weren't especially thrilled with the new setup, and I just said, "I'm not going to say anything now because I need to make sure my heart is right before talking about this, but I'm not particularly thrilled with the changes either."

Then the Holy Spirit started working on me, and I thought, "What is there in me that would make me a point person for all this murmering?"

I realized that my own heart was resistant to the change and was upset because it didn't facillitate my own agenda. I like having the chairs in a half-circle rather than two columns because it makes things more interactive. I like having the musicians spread out because we have more room. Furthermore, I didn't like that the change made us look more like a traditional church.

But instead of just recognizing these personal feelings, I became passive agressive. I burried my feelings and pretended to be cordial with the people who petitioned for the change in the first place. Their reasoning was that we can fit more people, folks won't have to walk accross the front of the room to enter or exit, and people are less disctractable. Why should those things bother me?

Because I had my own agenda and couldn't handle things not being the way I like them. I had been instrumental in moving the sanctuary to the less traditional position, and so this felt like an attack on me! But it wasn't--it was a change being made for the sake of functionality and building the Church! I had formed a judgment in my heart that these people couldn't break free from the traditional church model, when in actuality, I was the one who couldn't break free from my own favorite model of church! I was guilty of the very thing I was judging them for!

Romans 2:1--Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things (NKJV).

I think our resistance to change is not a matter of "not liking new things;" I believe it is that we like what we have, and we've begun to personally identify with these things. Be careful how you judge the viewpoints of others, because you who judge are guilty of the same things!

Returning to Wild at Heart, I believe there is something to be said about how the Church should handle change. Our men need to be adventurous enough to embrace change and daring enough to lay down our personal agendas to walk in unity. With this in place, our women can more easily feel secure enough to join us in the adventure. That's not a husband/wife issue--it's how males and females in general can function together in this spiritual family we call "the church."

Any time you struggle with change in the Church, examine yourself and see if it's just your personal preference that's bothering you. Be daring enough to die to self! I say this because I sense that the Lord is bringing some significant changes to the American church over the next few decades. I'm writing a book about these changes right now entitled Wildfire Christianity, which should be complete some time within the next six months. For now, though, my challenge is this: Get ready for change!