We have a light over the kitchen sink that has a lens cover that keeps falling off. Anita tried plastic tak and duct tape, but it kept falling off. She finally told me it was the man’s responsibility to fix broken things, so I took a look. The starter is going out that buzzed and set off vibrations that caused the lens cover to come loose. Thinking that the change would be easy, I tried to replace the starter but couldn’t get it out. So I got my tools out and took the light assembly apart to get a better grip. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get that starter out, so I had to run to Home Depot and get a new light fixture. Of course, nothing matched from the old fixture so it took twice as long to drill new holes, etc.
Change is never easy. It always takes more work and costs more money than just keeping things the same. But today Anita has a light that doesn’t buzz or have a light cover that falls off into her dishwater. It was worth it in the end. Change was good, because if Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!
Do you have to change something today? Change is good.
Tags: Change, repair, trouble
Perhaps you’ve heard of the mystery of the docked ham. It’s the story of a young girl who couldn’t understand why her mother cut off both ends of a ham before putting it in the oven. Her mother couldn’t explain why she did it, but insisted that since her mother had done it that way, it must be the way it was done.
Well that didn’t satisfy the daughter, so she went to Grandma to find out. But her grandmother had the same rationale. The truth had to rest with the great-grandmother. Fortunately, the originator of the tradition was still living and alert. Her reason? When she was cooking for her family, she didn’t have a pan big enough for most hams. Her remedy was to dock the ends of the ham until it was short enough to fit!
So the mystery of the abbreviated ham was solved. Will the young girl get a bigger pan or follow the tradition? What would you do?
Tags: Change, tradition
In 1939 Germany began World War 2 by invading Poland. Hitler sent 14 armored divisions across the Polish border. The Polish army was committed to the traditions of the Cavalry and sent 12 Cavalry brigades against the German tanks. In the tradition of the great Cavalry divisions of the Prussian army, the Polish Cavalry was molded for warfare as it had been fought in the 18th and 19th century. When the divisions of German armor came streaming across the border, therefore, the Polish generals sent wave after wave of Cavalry, men mounted on horses, against the tanks. The battle lasted about three weeks. The fields of Poland were choked with the bodies of horses and brave men who had gone into battle with a strategy formed for warfare in a previous period. The rest is history.
Sometimes I think the church is using the same antiquated strategy: keep doing spiritual battle the same way with the same outdated weapons. Is it any wonder Satan seems the be winning here in America? It reminds me of the director of the US Patent office back in the 1830s who suggested the patent office be closed because everything that could be invented had already been invented. And its not the church’s fault because the church is people! Its time we all awoke to the challenge that we are the ones who need to change.
Tags: Change, spiritual warfare
Two weeks ago I blogged about Change and the Church. This week I’m blogging about Change and You.
Shortly after President George H. W. Bush left office, he described in detail his final flight on Air Force One after the inauguration of Bill Clinton. That day Bush woke up in the White House and went to bed in a rented house in Houston. He said that the next morning he woke up early and started reaching around in the dark, trying to find the button that for years had signaled the staff that he wanted a cup of coffee. He accidentally woke up Barbara, who figured out what he was trying to do. She said, “George, you’re just going to have to get up and go get it yourself. Its over!”
There are times when each of us have to deal with change that is thrust upon us. And that change requires us to do things differently than we did before. Mark Twain once said, “The only one who likes change is the baby with the dirty diaper.”
What change has been thrust upon you?
Tags: Change
When a church first begins, the number one focus is people. So all our effort, finances, and time goes to reach people and get them in there. Once we’ve got a few people, the focus begins to change to caring for the people we’ve won, including a building, childcare, ministry opportunities, etc. The values of the church have now moved from evangelism to management. The church’s effort, finances, and time must now change to take care of the people who are there. And the new evangelistic church has lost its evangelistic focus. It happens in the best of churches.
If a church is to keep its “balance” as it matures, it must find a way to keep its eyes on both evangelism (reaching new people), and management (facilitating people we already have) at the same time. Both are critical to a healthy church. Otherwise, the natural evolution within any church will cause it to turn inward upon itself.
Have you seen this happen in a church? Tell me about it.
Tags: Change, church, evangelism
Most of us know that our church used to be a non-instrumental Church of Christ. When the elders asked me to be their pastor, I told them I would only do so if we made major changes, beginning with approval of By-Laws and establishing a membership. How did I lead this church through these changes with virtually no opposition?
For starters, the leaders had seen the failed system fail. They were ready for some stability. You see, the Church of Christ believed in a congregational government, meaning a democracy where everyone had an equal say. They also did not believe in a membership. Therefore, when problems came up, they called a congregational meeting to vote on it, and whoever brought the most friends and neighbors won! People showed up who had never attended before.
That’s wrong and they all knew it. The only logical fix was to establish a membership roster to identify who the legitimate voters would be. And By-Laws simply spelled out how we would do business in our church. It was common sense stuff and everyone agreed.
Every church should have a membership roster kept updated and workable By-Laws that close loopholes that give Satan a foothold to destroy what God wants to do. Because I had already proven myself by being a faithful lay person in the same church for eight years, the elders trusted me and approved every change I suggested. But I had to earn that right.
Of course, the church had already been through a split, eliminating those who didn’t want the change, and the remaining people were weary of the backbiting. That set up the possibility for the changes that allowed our church to grow over the next two decades. Only a handfull of people remain who can remember those agonizing days back in 1980, but I am eternally grateful for their trust and support.
Tags: Change, election, trust
Several years ago the pastor of a church in a neighboring community and I were visiting. He had come from a rather large church which was led by his Senior Pastor. He had been accepted as the pastor of a church with an elder-led system. He had been their pastor only about two months and was complaining about how the Board thought it was their job to tell him what to do. I just listened.
He announced his plan to change the governmental system of this church so that it became a pastor-led church. He was insistent that only his way was the scriptural way to govern a church. I encouraged him to slow down and give this transition time, but he was adamant that the Board step down. Sure enough, he lead a challenge publicly to change the governmental structure of the church. And within the month he was moving back home to Michigan, fired from his position.
He may have been correct about the scriptural way a church should be governed, but he was too new to be trusted, and had not gained sufficient clout to influence the people. He was without a job and the church was without a pastor. He tried to change the value system of that church and didn’t give it the time necessary.
Have you seen sad stories like this?
Tags: Change, church, patience, time