It's been said that the seven last words of the church are: "We never done it that way before." (The seven last words of the church in Missouri, that is!) We tend to resist change — and I've noticed that "contemporary" churches are just as reluctant to change as "traditional" churches. That's not necessarily a bad thing; change for the sake of change rarely leads to success.
Too often we keep changing the things that working and ignore what really needs to be fixed.
I've seen churches that are constantly changing their music ministry or the structure of their service when what they really need to change is the friendliness of their people to visitors.
The approach to any kind of change in our personal lives or ministry should be handled with thoughtfulness and prayerful consideration. Here are some notable quotes on the topic.
"If you want to truly understand something, try to change it." — Kurt Lewin
"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." — Nicolo Machiavelli
"Don't take the fence down until you know the reason it was put up." — G.K. Chesterton
"Not all change is improvement, but without change there can be no improvement." — John Maxwell, Developing the Leader within You
"In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." — Max Depree, Leadership is an Art
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2 comments:
I think one reason we resist change so much is it is an unknown, a risk and thus, in many ways, scary. We feel comfortable and safe if things do not change. My hubby knows that I have to have time to process changes, so he brings it up and then gives me time to take it in before approaching me again. I think it is wise to give people time to embrace changes. I appreciated at the leadership meeting you saying we would take 18 months to 2 years to "change" at CLC. Too many changes are drastic and done too quickly in this world. To me taking time is wisdom. It gives people a chance to get used to the differences and to be able to get behind them. You have a great leadership style, Pastor.
While I agree change is important, but you have to ask yourself "What needs changing? & What does this do to effect my relationship with God?" You see there is no such thing as a traditioanl church and a contemorary church, there is but one church God's church. We need to keep that in the forefront.
Change is a wonderful thin in all of our lives, but there is one question we all need to ask before we change the question is "Does what I am getting ready to change have any eternal value?
You see if we focus on changes God wants us to make, we will see an amazing thing take place.
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