The Old Demon “Change”

 We see our reflection in a mirror or in the water or a shiny plate of metal, and we think, “What happened? What happened to that strong, youthful, in control, fine human being? Where did the hair and teeth go? Where did that stomach bulge come from? My joints didn’t use to ache. What happened?”

We know what happened. Change happened. No matter how much we want it not to happen, it happens. It happens in our personal lives. It happens in the social circles in which we move. It happens throughout the world and universe. We cannot stop it. Change happens.

How do we survive it in a healthy manner?

How can we embrace change as a friend instead of as the enemy?

Matthew 13:52 So (Jesus) replied, "This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who takes new and old things out of his storage room."

As we look back through the years, we embraced many changes with pride and excitement. The changes came when we moved through a milestone in school. The changes came in our clothing and shoes as we grew toward adulthood. Changes came as we acquired new skills and took on additional responsibilities. Changes came as relationships changed, sometimes for the better and sometimes not so.

In so many instances we saw change as being positive and a mark of our advancement whether in age, in height, or in skills. Somewhere along the way, however, change was no longer seen as a friend. Change became dominated by what we saw as the negative instead of the positive. Change was something to be avoided rather than sought. Instead of growth and accomplishment, change was taking us closer to the end, to death.

In the words of Jesus found in Matthew 13 we find hope. We also find wisdom and strength as we face this inevitable thing in our lives called change. Jesus tells us that change will happen but it doesn’t have to leave us feeling out of control. We can choose how we face this beast, and in choosing we can control how we will face it.

Every change we face offers us one great area still under our control: our attitude. We can decide what our attitudes will be with each change, and that will give us the control over how we face what is happening. Our attitudes dictate our perspective on the situation. They allow us to evaluate our options. They prepare us for the consequences of each choice we make. Change may happen beyond our ability to stop it, but we can shape the results of the change in many ways.

We can look at what we may be losing and what we may be gaining with each change. Our perspectives allow us to see what we are gaining may far exceed in long term value what we are giving up. Any time we can see we have profited from a change, it is much easier to handle. We may decide what we are losing was of value only because it was familiar and not because it was contributing to the quality of our lives. The newness coming into our lives may be somewhat fearful because it is different, but what it offers is so much more than what we had.

The wise individual in the thought of Jesus is one who willingly looks at all he has and decides how to move forward with it. He draws some from the old because it has proven itself to be of value in the future he now faces. He grasps the new because only with the new will he be able to deal with the change that has occurred. As we move through the years, it is a decision we face often.

Another Chance to Evaluate

Flat spaces collect objects quickly, far more quickly than the time it takes to removes those same objects. My desk is an example. Multiple piles hide the glass top. Every piece of paper, book, and file has its place. Unfortunately their places overlap the places of numerous other papers, books, and files. It is an accumulation of information and plans going back several months, even years. My desk screams for evaluation.

Yes, I envy those people whose lives and workplaces exemplify orderliness and control. I can only laugh so much at the old adage, “A neat desk is the result of a sick mind.” Then I wish I could see my workplace orderly just once!

Nothing is stopping me except a decision. I simply have to decide I will handle that piece of paper once. I will put away the book once it is finished or until I decide it is worth reading. I will return the file to its proper location when I am finished instead of placing it on top of the nearest stack. It only takes a decision.

We all know such decisions can be difficult to make. Habits, hopes, and good intentions make that decision a hard one to reach. Sticking with the decision is harder still. Yet it is the only way to bring order out of the chaos that rules so many lives.

Is this something new? Is it restricted to the workplace? Does it only deal with material objects? No on all counts. The need to evaluate what is happening in our lives is ever present. What we need is the decision.

The mess on the desk is easy to see. The mess in our lives may be a little harder to identify. Yet we are called to evaluate that as well. We must see the flat spaces we have allowed to accumulate wasteful and harmful habits. We must identify the areas in our lives that have been stained so long with the corruption of the world we no longer notice what has colored our lives.

With another year about to begin, now is a great time to be honest, do that close evaluation of our lives, and decide what baggage we are carrying that needs to disappear with the old year.

Jesus used this parable to encourage his disciples to make the decision:

Mat 13:52 So he replied, "This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who takes new and old things out of his storage room."

When we become a follower of Jesus, we still bring a lot of baggage with us. We may be new creatures, but the old habits are still there, and the new way of thinking will take a lifetime to settle into full control.

Evaluation for the individual starts with a decision about the relationship we have with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Do our thoughts honor the One who died for us? Do our words reflect his nature now living within us? Do our actions show his full control of our lives? Evaluation means looking at all the stuff in our lives and deciding what does and does not fit into the life of a follower of Christ.

The same goes for a local congregation. New ideas become ministries. Ministries become traditions. Traditions become roadblocks to the new ideas which must develop to face the changing culture around us. A congregation must go through the process of evaluation on a regular basis. It must be honest in its evaluation of what is old and still of value, what is new and just a fad, and what is timeless and must remain an important part of the investment of the congregation.

As we move into a new year, we cannot be afraid to make tough decisions. Things change whether we want them to or not. We must be ready to keep or to throw out. We just need to do it under the leadership of God.

One Thing Doesn’t Change, But Others?

Time moves at the same speed whether it is the lazy, hazy days of summer or the frantic days leading up to Christmas. Yet in our schedules we find things can get all in chaos as we find too much to do in too little time to do it. Throw in a bout with nasal and lung congestion, and you can get behind in everything!

With all this going on, there is a reassurance for believers. One thing never changes regardless of our circumstance.

Heb 13:8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

This verse has been a source of reassurance for Christians for generations. The world may change. Evil may appear victorious. Hope has been destroyed. Then we are reminded the appearance of the world does not indicate the eternal condition. The King of kings, the Lord of lords does not change.

The New Testament reflects the changes some of its most important personages had to face.

Peter had his eyes opened to what God was doing to bring in the Gentiles into the Kingdom.

Act 10:9 The next day, as they were on their way and coming near Joppa, Peter went up on the roof of the house about noon in order to pray.

Act 10:10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat; while the food was being prepared, he had a vision.

Act 10:11 He saw heaven opened and something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners to the earth.

Act 10:12 In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and wild birds.

Act 10:13 A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat!"

Act 10:14 But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled."

Act 10:15 The voice spoke to him again, "Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean."

Paul had a Damascus road experience.

Act 9:3 As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flashed around him.

Act 9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?"

Act 9:5 "Who are you, Lord?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you persecute," the voice said.

Act 9:6 "But get up and go into the city, where you will be told what you must do."

The Apostle Peter needed to remind his readers there was a time the relationship they had with God was broken. They could not benefit from his promises. Now, because of the action of Christ, change had come.

1Pe 2:10 At one time you were not God's people, but now you are his people; at one time you did not know God's mercy, but now you have received his mercy.

Paul calls all who would be faithful to Christ to recognize the change that must take place in their lives.

Rom 12:1  So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.

Rom 12:2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God---what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

In this season of giving and semi-controlled chaos, Jesus represents a rock of stability. The Church must address the needs of the world in different ways, but the One who is the heart of the message does not change.

Those First Seven Words

You don’t have to be in church life long before you hear the depressing stories of congregations who lived and died with those famous last seven words, “We’ve never done it that way before” and their twin sister, “We have always done it that way.” Though I am a traditionalist, I know you cannot keep doing the same thing over and over and hope for different results. We know that as the definition of insanity.

Businesses cannot run the same way they did twenty years ago. Government cannot operate as if the world has not changed. Professionals cannot perform their businesses limited to the knowledge they acquired during college days. Change has to come, and it’s just as true for churches and individuals.

Recently I was reminded of the opposite of those death-guaranteeing words. These are the “first seven words”, and they can make all the difference for a business, a church, and an individual life. Those words are “Not my will but yours be done.”

When businesses don’t change to meet the new market demands, the result is often death whether swift or slow. Preferences change. Needs change. Business must adapt even when it knows its product is still necessary and the best available. A new language has to be learned and spoken.

When a church falls into the trap of believing its traditions are equal to its message, it has moved onto the path of self-destruction. Preservation of the past becomes more important than discipleship and redemption. Change is seen as a threat to what is considered most sacred, the church family story. Allegiance to the sacred traditions becomes the standard for church membership.

Lest we bash churches as a whole beyond reason, we must remember congregations are not nameless entities. They are people with strong beliefs about what is right and proper both for the sacred and the profane. Most often these attitudes are as visible in personal life as they are on the church stage.

I joke about remembering the good, old days which seem to get better the older I become. Our memories become selective as we think about the joys and blessings of a past age as we compare it to the present. Families spent more time together. We moved with less hurry and worry. Life was simpler and offered more occasions to enjoy what the world offered.

Then we remember days that had temperatures in the 90’s and humidity readings even higher with no air conditioning. In the winter we remember going to the pond to cut ice ten inches thick so the cattle could get a drink in the sub-zero weather. Upstairs in the old farmhouse the air would be cold enough you went to bed with three quilts over you and your jeans beside you so they would be warm when you got up the next day for school.

I learned to appreciate water lines that went underground and didn’t freeze, a hay baler that created bales to be carried by the tractor instead of me, and a gas furnace that kept the entire house warm. We laugh about the changes that made life richer and more productive for us today. We need to think about how we do church and live our lives before God in the same way.

Jesus knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed those special words to his Father after nearly three years of teaching, preaching, and healing all of which called for change. (Matthew 13) He had spent three years getting close to a group of people he said were no longer his servants, but his friends. (John 15:12-17) He was about to give all that up for a cross and the burden of the sins of the world. Yet he could still say, “Not my will but yours be done.” (Matthew 26:36-46)

We each have our traditions. Many of us attend churches where we can enumerate their non-negotiable patterns of sacred practice. Renewal and revival, so desperately needed in our churches and our personal lives, need to begin with that very serious prayer, “Not my will but yours be done.”