Why we don't change

ok. This one make be a little controversial... but that is ok with me. I am just going to tell it like I see it, because I think it is worth talking about. Here we go.

We have been looking at change. Change is good and necessary.

so


Why do we not change. I am going to try to unpack a few of the reasons churches are not willing to change. Now, I am not a pastor anywhere, but I have spent a good amount of time on staff at churches and have been around church all my life, and read about church all the time on the internet... so I have an idea of what is going on in the church world.

Reason to not change

1. We have not done it like that before- very nice observation... That is where the change part comes in. I know that doing new things can be scary, difficult, and hard, but that is not enough of a reason to keep from changing. Graig Groschell said it best when he said, "to reach people that have not been reached, we have to do things that have not been done". That just about sums it up.

2. People may get up set- yep. Actually, there is a good chance the will be missed. Some people may even get really pissed of and leave... That can be hard. Change is not always easy, especially when you have created a stable environment for so long. That is the beauty of churches that embrace change from the beginning; change in not a foreign idea, it is part of who they are. There are many places that get stuck here. I know that I am not a pastor at this moment, but I pray that when I am that God will not let me get stuck here. I do not like hurting people's feelings, but eternity is at stake here people...

3. I need to provide for my family- once again, I do not have a family of my own either. But this is another area that I am praying that God will take care of. I am praying that He will allow me to take the steps necessary to grow and provide for my family. God is the great provider, and I am clinging to the promise He makes in Mathew about taking care of the grass of the fields and that He will take care of me. Family is important, but when does the time come when you say to God, "I know you want me to do this, but I just can't.... I trust you, but, not that much". I pray that time does not come.

4. You are Selfish- "this is how I do it, and this is how it will be done..." I think this post by Gary Lamb takes care of this one.

5. We don't want to reach out to the culture- Lets just be honest. Change requires work; reaching out to the culture is not an easy job. But that does not mean we are not to do it. God has called us to so much more that sitting around in staff and deacon meetings all day. When are we going to go out in the culture and spend time with lost people?? That is what Jesus did; most of his messages where not given in the temple... they were out where the people were. And Jesus did not run away from culture... he embraced it. He was not sitting around waiting for people to come to him, rather, he was out hanging out with tax collectors and prostitutes. Are we (the church) willing to step out like that. Are we willing to go out and care for the culture. Jesus hung out with the "dirty" people. He spent time with adulterers and liars, thieves and lepers. When are we going to adopt that kind of mindset in churches? We preach truth, but there is no love or grace. Jesus came to earth and he was passionate about forgiveness; not condemning people, forgiving them.


-Change is not something that happens overnight, although some things could. Change is more than having drums in your service, or playing that "new song". It is about how the church looks at everything. It is not about the music, that is just a good thing to hang your hat on so you don't have to really talk about the problem.

People are dying and going to hell! That in itself should be enough to get us out of the pew and into the world. If we are going to follow Christ, we need to have His passions. He was not passionate about being popular. In fact, it seems that most people did not like him, many took every chance they could to try to have him arrested.

Following Christ is not a walk in the park... but it is the walk of a lifetime. What if we all stepped out in faith and believed that God was going to do great things around us? We could be the change the world is looking for.