Incremental Change and Band-Aid Fixes Aint Gonna Cut It
By Alan Ward |
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I recently preached a sermon called So Long Status Quo. I focused on Jeremiah’s call story (Jeremiah 1) and the second part Jesus’ starting his ministry at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4:14-30). The message seemed to fit where our church is right now, and probably applies to many of our local churches. I’m convinced that if we are to see our local churches become all that God dreams they can be, then we too will have to decisively disrupt the status quo in our midst. As Nichole Nordeman states it in her song, Brave, we must realize that:
The way it always was is no longer good enough.
God has a tendency call his followers to disrupt the status quo in their own time and place so that a new vision can become reality. I believe God called Jeremiah and Jesus to decisively disrupt the status quo in their own time and place. Incremental changes and band-aid fixes were no longer good enough; radical restructuring of the way it always was, was the only way God could accomplish what needed doing. Unfortunately, their message often fell upon deaf ears and at times both men suffered violent rejection. They were proclaiming a message that God was about to do something new and exciting, but people have a way of being threatened by change, especially people in positions of political and religious power who seemingly have the most to lose from the changes. These stories also teach us some important lessons about how we should respond when it appears that our efforts to share our vision fall upon deaf ears, when it seems at first glance that our efforts have failed. We need to keep in mind that things may not always be what they first appear. God may see things from a different perspective than we do. God can use even what appears to be the worst kind of failure to bring out glimpses of the Kingdom of Heaven advancing in our midst. I elaborate on these ideas in a full newsletter article I wrote called So Long Status Quo, that you can download and read.
Of course, the reactions of the people to Jeremiah and Jesus’ messages are very human reactions. Those of us who are trying to change things in our churches can probably relate. In general, human beings don’t like change; we’re scared of it. We’re all to quick to complain and criticize and say, “But we’ve never done it this way before?” We become defensive and say, “What’s wrong with the way we’ve been doing it? We’re doing the best we can!” Rather than embrace change as inevitable and good, we see any suggestion that we need to change as a rejection of what has gone on before, and dig in our heals and resist new things. I know I do this in my personal life—I’m a Meyers-Brigg “J” and I love my routine and feel frazzled when it is disrupted—and I know we do it as a community too!
The church I serve is struggling; I bet our story is by no means unique. We’re surviving, perhaps maintaining the status quo (barely) but we certainly aren’t thriving and growing. We’ve seen the number of active members decline in recent years, and we are particularly lacking in youth and young adults. We’ve made some changes such as adding contemporary worship, but we also maintain traditional worship. (We dare not change too much, too fast!) We have formed a Vision Team to dream about the future of our church and to figure out where we would like to be as a community of faith in five years. I strongly believe that God is calling this team together to disrupt the status quo at our church in order to allow a new vision to become reality. I’m talking quite a bit more than incremental change and band-aid fixes; I’m talking decisive change. Perhaps if we had been willing to do more along the way, we wouldn’t have to take such “radical” steps now, but we can’t go backwards, we can only move forward toward the future. This is our moment in time; this is our time to stand up and leave behind our legacy. What will we do?
Will I walk straight, will I be true ?Will I finish strong ?
Will I stand up for the moment ?When I could right a wrong ?
Because the legacy we have will never change
?It’s how we spend our days
And the years go by, how they seem to fly ?
They’ll all be over soon ?
When our life is done, did we live and love ?
The way we wanted to ?
Cause everyday that we leave behind ?Goes on to tell the truth ?
Of how we lived in the line between the two ?The line between the two
—Mark Harris, The Line Between the Two
Will we be known as the generation where the mainline church died or the generation where it saw amazing revival and evolution? Like Jeremiah and Jesus, will we have to courage to do what must be done now in this decisive moment in history? Will we disrupt the status quo and trust God to lead us forward into an uncertain future? Only time will tell, but I pray that we do rise up to the challenge and succeed, for what we do not only impacts us but generations that follow after us. If we fail to act, there may not be a church for future generations, and that would be very sad to me
Alan Ward lives in Baltimore, MD and blogs at Can These Bones Live Again? |
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Good article. We find ourselves in similar waters. The question those swirling waters have stirred up is: What does 'growth' have to do with it? Are we really changing the paradigm if its still a numbers game?
More of my reading lately has been about being faithful and aware, and let the Spirit of God take care of the results. Personally, I weary of reading some pastor's or author's or speaker's church growing from --- to -----. I refuse to believe that as long as the growth is there God is speaking. Seems to me Jeremiah and Jesus both had a reverse numbers game happening. Somewhere in the last couple years, Eugene Peterson talked about a pastor's greatest virtue being patience.
Very good article...helps a few of us out there who would like to see change in our churches...and for the right reasons. God isn't interested in Status Quo...we need to realize that we are either growing (ie. getting healthier) or we are going backwards.
Just a quick note as well...tried to follow the link to his "So Long Status Quo" newsletter article...found nothing. Just wondered if anyone has found this article?
Amen & Amen
I recently described to someone how it feels being the director of education @ my present congrgation. I said it feels like riding a dinosaur into the horizon of a setting sun...It is hard to imagine that LESS than 20 years ago this church was a pulsating life force in & for the community with 2,000 plus members..now it feels like a museum...frozen in the "good old days" held back by apathy & refusal. We have 400 members now but far, far less than that in the pews. every day I feel like I take a flying leap into a wall & other days I overflow with hope in what we so could be....
It sounds just like the church I attend. There are a few of us who are trying to bring about change, but the congregation as a whole is stuck in the status quo of 20-30 years ago. It's not an easy task and there are many days I wonder if I'm beating my head against a wall.
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More of my reading lately has been about being faithful and aware, and let the Spirit of God take care of the results. Personally, I weary of reading some pastor's or author's or speaker's church growing from --- to -----. I refuse to believe that as long as the growth is there God is speaking. Seems to me Jeremiah and Jesus both had a reverse numbers game happening. Somewhere in the last couple years, Eugene Peterson talked about a pastor's greatest virtue being patience.
Just a quick note as well...tried to follow the link to his "So Long Status Quo" newsletter article...found nothing. Just wondered if anyone has found this article?
I recently described to someone how it feels being the director of education @ my present congrgation. I said it feels like riding a dinosaur into the horizon of a setting sun...It is hard to imagine that LESS than 20 years ago this church was a pulsating life force in & for the community with 2,000 plus members..now it feels like a museum...frozen in the "good old days" held back by apathy & refusal. We have 400 members now but far, far less than that in the pews. every day I feel like I take a flying leap into a wall & other days I overflow with hope in what we so could be....