(On the Trail to Guadalupe Peak - Guadalupe Mountains National Park - April 2009)
In 1983, a group of deacons stood in their pastor's driveway awaiting his arrival. They were there on a mission. The youth minister had overstepped his bounds. For over a month the young man had announced a Fifth Quarter Fellowship to be held after an upcoming football game. The entire student body had been invited. Now on a Friday afternoon mere hours before the planned event, the deacons of the church were there to demand that the event be canceled.....because some African-American students might attend the fellowship. This church was located a short distance from the famous Selma-to-Montgomery march. The Civil Rights Movement had occurred almost twenty years earlier. And yet, this church had refused to change. They failed to embrace a change that their founder, Jesus Christ unashamedly celebrated one noon at a well in Samaria
I read a dissertation written by a former pastor about a church of which I was personally acquainted. As I read his words written almost a decade earlier, I was amazed at their familiarity. Negative attitudes, narrow opinions, and complaints had not changed one iota in ten years. A one-on-one conversation with the author revealed that the lack of change stretched back even further.
Why are churches so resistant to change? Why do Christians fold their arms, bow their necks, and gush such pious platitudes like - "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it?" (It's interesting how that quote is interjected in discussions of morality or doctrine but seldom offered with as much zeal when struggling with the implications of loving enemies and forgiving our fellow man.) Why do most Christian lives continue to fall short of the glory of God?
Change is indicative of spiritual growth! Our souljourns began when we were willing to repent of our old way of life and surrender our sinful selves to the Lordship of Christ. As Jesus stated in Matthew 18:3 - "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus took our surrenders and transformed us into new creations. (2 Corinthians 5:17) In one glorious moment, our hearts were changed...our minds were changed....our lives were changed!
And yet, our need for change did not end there. Our personal salvation was not some "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!" that rendered us spiritually perfect and biblically knowledgeable from then to eternity. With the change came a challenge. The challenge to live like Jesus. With the change came a call. The call to deny self, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus. To embrace the challenge and obey the call necessitates a life of constant change and spiritual growth.
The seed of the gospel explodes in the fertile soil of those who dare to cultivate. Fallow is the ground and common is the plight of churches who don't. Change becomes a threat to them. The green shoots of growth exploding through the crust disturb the rest of the hibernating hotbed. Proponents of status quo rise up in pious agitation to nip the new growth in the bud. They act as if faith is something to be protected rather than lived. When some change comes along that they will accept, they celebrate the moment beyond proportion. The bride of Christ wiggles her toe and the buzz of the fellowship would lead you to believe she had moved Everest!
The truth is - God does not change! He emphatically reminds us of His constancy over and again throughout scripture. ("I the Lord do not change." - Malachi 3:6) His Word does not change. It is eternal truth. But our relationship with Him must change as we allow Him to increase our faith. Such change will overflow into our worship and our discipleship. Resistance to change is a serious indicator that something is not right within. Ignorance will always resist truth. Darkness will always resist light. Pride will always resist a power that cannot be harnessed or controlled. And death within us will always be threatened by the assurance of abundant life.