Turn and Face the Strain

Ed Young's blog (edyoungblog.com) is one of the pastor's blogs I read regularly. His latest entry is another good one:

If it ain't broke, break it.

In other words, change. Just to change. That may sound like an odd statement, but it's vital. Why? Because change is the guts of creativity.

We all want to be creative. But to do that, in any venue of life, we have to be willing to change. Something. Anything. And we have to do it before we need to do it.

One of the biggest pitfalls we find ourselves in is the inability, or unwillingness, to change. We lock ourselves into a style, a look, a time zone. And after a while, everything we do and say looks and sounds like circa 2002.

When you drill it down, the lack of change is all about fear. Many people and leaders resist the need to change because of the resistance of change. But there's a spin cycle of success when it comes to change.

Change. Conflict. Growth.

If you want your life and your leadership to reach the level God wants it to, you have to change.

At Fellowship Church, we change all the time. There's a running joke that FC stands for "frequent change." But it's true. We've discovered over the past 18 years that when we change, yes, we face conflict. Yes, people do the push back. Yes, some people even leave the church! But as we stick through the changes, we also discover tremendous growth on the other side.

So what does change really look like here?

Change Your Preparation
I don't always prepare my messages the same way. I vary the books I read, the articles I research and the people who help me craft the weekend messages. I even change the places I study.

If I stick to doing things the same way, I fall into a rut. And there's no less effective place to be than in a rut.

Change Your Worship
Over the years, we've blown up the entire dynamic of our worship department. And not just once.

This is one of those areas that, when it's "working," people are afraid to change. But it's one of the greatest ways to keep the church on its feet with its arms raised in worship rather than folded in familiarity.

Change Your Style
I'm not talking about just your clothes (though, yes, please change those as the years go by). I'm talking about the style of your leadership. In other words, change the people you have in leadership positions.

Even as I write this, we're in the process of changing the entire leadership scheme of Fellowship Church. Because we've discovered that new perspectives, new viewpoints help elevate our church to heights we never dreamed possible.

Don't be afraid of change. Instead, be afraid of what could happen if you don't change. Be willing to face the conflict change will bring. And get ready to experience the growth on the other side!

Daggone, that challenges me....primarily because I hate conflict. I really, really want to improve and so I'm open to change...as long as no one gets upset, as long as no one gets hurt. And yet I think I've learned that (a) growth brings change, (2) change brings conflict, (III) not changing brings conflict, (d) so we might as well experience conflict because of trying to improve instead of trying not to change, eh?