When It's Time to Change

I have decided that most of us are not inclined toward change of any kind. I feel that I have been through a good number of changes over the last year, most of them I have discussed on this blog, so I am not afraid of change. But that is not really being inclined toward change, is it? I mean, though I thrive on change and enjoy the blessing that comes as a result of my willingness to allow God to change my life, my circumstances, my level of commitment, I really cannot say that I like it.

And why is it that when we see people changing, we become concerned about their direction or what they're doing. For instance, today I went to visit a woman who was dying. That's a pretty big change for her and for her family. The family is having to readjust to life without mom. But they will have to adapt in order to survive without her. Visiting with this family reminded me of this time five years ago when we lost my wife's mother. It was one of the most difficult experiences I have ever lived through. I had never really lost someone that I was close to, and the devastation I felt from her loss was more for the fact that my children (at the time, child) would never know her. But the sad truth is that I was upset for the change it would bring in my own life and in the life of my wife. People say you get over the loss of a loved one and they are liars. We never get over these losses, but we must learn to adapt and live on. And having now experienced the loss of some of the most significant people in my life, I have a better insight into dealing with the grieving processes of those in my congregation. As I have said before, I have served in more funerals since I moved to Panama City than I did in the rest of my life combined.

Another example: I was walking by my pastor's office door and noticed him cleaning out his office. My first question to him was "Are you trying to tell me that you are ready to leave?" (No) "Are you dying?" (Not today) Why is it that we assume that change is bad? Even dealing with death has its benefits. We learn so much from the grieving process about ourselves and about our faith. We discover whether or not we believe we will be in the presence of God when we die or that if we believe we will see them again.

Change has been a constant companion to me in my adult life. Growing up, leaving home, and moving on--all of these are things that we have to do in order to continue to grow. When we stop changing, we start to die and I think that is one of my biggest concerns for the church. We are more concerned about keeping things or programs that no longer speak to anyone because they are dear to us. But we long stopped asking if they were dear to God.

I am teaching a Bible study on worship patterns and one of the main questions I ask is "If worship is truly for God's pleasure, then why does it concern us if we do not receive anything from it?" If it is truly about God, then our desires are really irrelevant. But the problem always comes back to us. True worship causes us to change. We can get away with pretending to live a Christian life, but we cannot fake being a worshiper because this means that we have to allow the Holy Spirit to confront us. And that means we have to change. That means we have to actually put our faith into action and not just talk about it.

So my question is this: "If we are not able to worship, then are we actually just in the final stages of a cancer that will inevitably spiritually kill us?"