The problem with change is that we all hate it. All of us hate it at varying levels and in different ways, but no one can say that they always love change.
Since classes finished for the summer I’ve been reading a book titled Spirituality by Carl McColman. It has been a fun read because Carl takes a very nonacademic approach toward a relationship with God. Something that is needed for me after a long school year.
Carl tackles the problem of change for religious people in a great way. He says:
Religions resist change for the simple reason that any given change might prove to be spiritually harmful. The attitude in such resistance is, “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”
Even the Book of Common Prayer shows Christianity’s incessant fear with change. It says (page 133):
Protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness.
I often wonder if those who resist change within their churches are more scared that something bad could happen rather than hoping change could produce a greater good.
The difference of mindset changes everything.
The problem with change can also be that there are areas where Christianity should not change. A life of following Christ should mean there are areas that never change and areas where change should be endless. And the only way to determine all this is through discernment.
If I could sum up the problem churches are having in reaching my generation it would be in one word: change. Churches have created sacred cows that they will not allow to change and in turn they run the young people out of their church. Sure, the millennial generation has a problem some call an entitlement complex (wanting control before it is earned), but when churches refuse to change in all the wrong areas they have no choice but to start their own thing.
What dangers do you see in resisting change?
