Change or Die

On Thursday, Anne and I, and 14 other people from Grace, were in Anderson, SC listening to Perry Noble. One of the things he championed, as other church leaders have, is that the church needs to change or die.

Look at the new facebook that unveiled this week. It now looks more like twitter plus many of the extras we all like. It changed. It updated. It's creators saw that what they had going wasn't as effective as it needed to be.

Three weeks ago Andy Stanley related at Catalyst One day that even in the latter half of the 20th century, many church pastors built and conducted their ministries in much the same way for 20 to 50 years without much change. I saw an example of this when I went to Grand Rapids last month. While the church I visited has seen several new pastors, and a few aesthetic makeovers, it still looks like a church from 1970. The church has not added to their number. Seminary graduates still wax eloquent in the pulpit after a few "praise songs" sung along with the organ. I am not saying this to tear this local church down, (it's full of wonderful, simple, country-folk), but to challenge the process, or lack thereof.

Back in seminary the battle cry was "Semper Reformanda" (always reforming). But do we really know what that means? We say it, but what it actually looks like differs greatly among those who utter it.

The church at large is already fading into oblivion in the United States. But there are many churches who are seizing the opportunity, this moment in history. It is a critical one. The purpose and place of the church in the world has always been critical--people are dying and spending eternity in judgment and separation from God. But in this financial economy, in this information economy, in this idealogy economy, the message of Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and THE Life needs to be heard.

I realize these thoughts are incomplete and would be better put into several blog entries. I just had to get them out though, and let you fill in the blanks. Please feel free to add to the discussion.

In closing, here are a couple questions for you: Does my church want to change? By change I mean: become "relevant" (for lack of a better term), to actually put the timeless gospel message in a context and language and experience that people can understand.

Secondly, do I want my church to change? Why or why not?

Perry Noble twittered this morning, "if a church wants to see change in the community, then it must be willing to BE the change that it wants to see!"