Constant change and assessment

I have noticed something lately. And it has taken me a while to do so. I am sure that it has more to do with my thick skull than anything but this has hit me hard lately. Our church is changing, assessing the changes, and then changing again. Nothing is in steady state and there is nothing that is not subject to scrutiny. I had a short conversation with a fellow church member and I mentioned to them that the only thing that we can expect around our church is more change. This can get exhausting at times because as flexible as I am I am not one that seeks change naturally. I would love for there to be a time in our church where things just stayed the same...just give me 6 or 8 months of "normal" and I think I'll be good. Just let me catch my breath and get my feet on the ground so that I can see where I am going.

And here is the rub: this is how church must be. Everything that is not Biblically mandated is up for grabs. Everything that is not fulfilling the order to go and make more and better disciples of Christ is subject to revision or the chopping block. Nothing can stand still and all those years in all those churches I was a part of where ministries remained largely intact and unchanging for years or even a decade or more weren't doing it right. As painful and as exhausting as the changes that have been coming to our church it is so necessary. We do not have a choice in the matter. If we are going to be the church in 2011 we had better look a little different than we did in 2009 because the people that we are trying to reach with the Gospel certainly do.

But it is a lot of hard work. It is really hard. And that is exactly what it should be. Thanks be to God that someone worked hard to reach me. How can I do anything but for the people God loves?

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