The shortness of life

 Most of my childhood was spent on dairy farms. There wasn't a lot of time to play with my friends although my brothers and sisters enjoyed play time. We moved from the farm the year I entered high school (1963) and moved into town. Suddenly, there was a lot more free time. One of the things I remembered doing during the summer was meeting with friends at an empty lot near our home and playing baseball on a makeshift field. That field now houses a retirement home, but in those days it was wide open. Our games ended at dusk because there were no lights, and that was the time we were all expected to be home for supper anyway. I thought about those days when I recently read where someone reminded us that we will not realize when we have played our last game with our friends. As I read that, I realized that I do not remember a single person who played in those games nor do I remember the last time we played ball on that field.

It's just one more reminder that life is short. I've circled the sun 76 times now, and that is still a short time compared to eternity. When I was in my 20s I would have considered someone my age now as ancient. Now I prefer the word seasoned! I've lived a full life and been able to do far more than a kid growing up on dairy farms in Indiana ever dreamed of doing, but I also realize I could have done so much more. I regret some of the things I've done, but I regret even more the things I didn't do when I had the opportunity. Nothing can be done about either one, but we can also start where we are and seek new opportunities to do what needs to be done.

So many people reach a certain age and think that their lives are over. I could encourage you to Google what famous people did in their advanced years. It's an eye-opener! As long as we have breath in our bodies we have the opportunity to made a difference in the world and in the lives of people around us. Age is just a number; it's not a determinative factor of what you can do.

Jesus said He came to give us life and life more abundantly. That means that He came to offer us eternal life when this life ends, and a full life until that happens. He wants to bless us that we might be a blessing to others. See, the only way to live a fulfilling life is to live it to be a blessing to other people.

I know I have more days behind me than I have ahead of me, but I want to live those days in such a way that I can bless as many people as possible. I want to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ. I want to see people break out of bondage to sin, to debt, to addictions, to broken relationships, to shame and guilt. Those that the Son sets free is free indeed, and I want people to find freedom in Jesus Christ.

Don't let a number determine what you can do. Ask God what He would have you do, and then do it. You will find out quickly how rewarding life can be.

When change is attacked

 Several years ago a congregation in a small community was filling its sanctuary in its two worship services each Sunday. Leaders were discussing adding a third service. Before that could be done, some changes needed to happen to prepare the church for that additional service. The pastor and staff were confidant that the church would accept those changes. However, when they were presented to those attending the business meeting they were soundly rejected. The few people who attended the meeting not only voted down the changes but also offered sharp criticism at the pastor and others who were promoting them. The pastor was stunned by the anger exhibited in that meeting. A short time later this pastor, who had served in this church for over two decades, left for another church.

That meeting not only broke his spirit, it began a downward spiral in the church. Today, this church is less than half the size it was at the time of the meeting. One wonders if it will ever return to the vibrant church it once was.

As a regional minister for 14 years I saw a number of similar situations when needed change in a church was rejected. Like the previous church, not only was the change rejected, the rejection came with a lot of angry accusations, name-calling and division. Much of this was usually directed at the pastor and/or staff. When I would be called in to mediate the issues I would usually tell the pastor privately that his or her time there was probably up. In most cases, the pastor was not going to survive this rejection of his leadership.

Why do such violent attacks occur when change is suggested? Sometimes it is due to some deep pain within the congregation. In my first church I announced some plans I had made only to have those plans immediately rejected. Later that evening, in a private phone call, I learned why the people responded as they did. I had, not knowingly, opened up some old wounds that had not healed. I had not been there long enough to know the history, especially that part that had brought pain, of the church.

At other times changes are rejected because the people have grown weary of pastors who introduce changes and then leave before they are fully implemented. Such congregations often feel they are left holding the bag. I don't believe we fully understand how much pain there is in congregations who have seen continuous rapid pastor turnover. Why would such churches embrace change when they've been taught that the pastor will only be there a short while?

Of course, change is often opposed by people who fear that it will challenge their authority or position in the church. I've written extensively about church controllers in this blog and in some of my books. These people will oppose anything that might threaten them or their position in the church. They will often be the most outspoken about their opposition, and they can be quite ugly as well. 

The first two situations can be addressed by a long-term pastor. Just because a change is needed doesn't mean it's needed today. In my experience, most worth-while changes in a church took much longer to occur than I had thought. A long-term pastor builds trust in a congregation, and that trust can lead to them becoming willing to accept changes.

I had mentioned that the pastor above had been at his church for over 20 years so being long-term didn't help his situation. That's because those who most strongly opposed the changes he was proposing were church controllers. As more people were coming into the church they were fearful that they would lose their control over the church. They were determined to do anything to stop future growth, and this is what those changes would have brought. Only a handful of people showed up for that business meeting, and it was mostly the controllers. The ones who wanted change, who wanted to see the church grow, weren't there. Maybe that's what hurt the pastor the most.

 

Discontinuous change and the church

 Change has always been a part of life. Babies are born, they grow into childhood and then into teenagers and finally become adults. Factories have always found new, inventive ways of producing items to sell. I worked in a factory for 30 years and saw many changes take place during those years. We could name many other similar changes, but these are all continuous changes. These types of changes come from what has occurred before. they can be expected and managed.

Discontinuous change is completely different. it is disruptive and is not expected. It often challenges our expectations. Worse yet, such change often challenges our skill sets and knowledge. The printing press is a good example of discontinuous change. There was little reason for the average person to learn to read until the printing press made it possible for people to have Bibles and other books. A more modern example might be the Internet. The entire world was transformed when the Internet was created. This was followed by the smart phone which placed more computing power in our pockets than was used to land people on the moon.

The changes faced by today's churches are often discontinuous changes. Everything the church believed to be true about being the church is being challenged. Once upon a time the church was at the center of much of a community's life. Today, it is barely on the periphery of most people's lives. Pastors were trained to manage churches with well-developed programs that had been tested over time and proved to be useful. Denominations received annual reports from their churches to see how well their branch plants were doing. There was a large pool of pastors ready to move into those churches seeking pastors. None of this is true today.

Smaller churches find it extremely difficult to find a new pastor, and even many mid-size churches may take 2-3 years to find a new pastor. Many of the programs that had been so successful in the past have been discarded today as less than useful. A majority of people no longer find the church to be necessary for their lives. In fact, some Christians now believe that the church has been harmful to their spiritual health. Church membership and financial support have been declining for several years now in most churches. Many denominations have been forced to cut staff, sell off buildings and offer only minimum support to their churches.

It isn't that churches are not trying to overcome their challenges. Many are trying real hard, but they are still using their old tools which no longer work. We are not prepared for discontinuous change, and many in ministry today are not equipped to deal with it. We have to learn new ways of doing ministry, and this will require the efforts of every Christian, not just the pastors. As one book suggested

A congregation must become a place where members learn to function like cross-cultural missionaries rather than be a gathering place where people come to receive religious goods and services.

Because we live in a pre-Christian world, we have to begin to think and act like missionaries entering a place of ministry for the first time. We have to learn new languages. We have to learn how non-Christians think and act before we can hope to share the gospel with them. We have to become students of their culture, not to adapt to it but to respond to it with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Much more could be written, but it's enough to say that if we keep doing the same things we've been doing, we will become less and less relevant in a world filled with discontinuous change.