Being and doing

As I finished reading the parish magazine from my former church I sighed as I laid it to one side, somethings don't change I thought. It can be both a good thing and a bad thing that nothing changes. Change should not be something we bring about for it's own sake. When we make changes in a church, in business or in our lives it is a good thing to spend some time thinking about what the motives for that change are.

Some change is both necessary and desirable, it moves us forwards towards our goal. We do however need to be clear over as many of the consequences of change as possible. Bill Hybels has said for many years that the local church is the hope of the world and I agree with him. The church and the Christ  followers who belong to it are called to be different. We are called to be salt and light in the world. We are in the world but not of the world as Jesus says in John 15:19. We are en-route to eternity but we have a job to do as we journey. The English  Archbishop Temple said "the church is the only organization that exists for the benefit of its non- members."

Change in the church should be driven by the need for us who belong to it to be better followers of Jesus and therefore to be able to reach out as salt and light into the world with the intention of bringing new people into a relationship with the Lord Jesus. Change in the church is often a heated subject and I feel relatively safe as I write this as we are not planning any big changes in the near future.

I believe the church is about bringing people to Jesus and then helping them to know Him better and live closer to Him. It is good for us all occasionally to spend some time reflecting over what we do and why we do it, as well as how it enables or hinders us in living out what Jesus has called us to be and to do.