The inevitability of change
The pace of change in our world is out of control. Check out these statics...I got them here.
What does all this mean for the church? It means a ton. It means change. And change. And more change. You'd think a people that are all about conversion and transformation would be hip to change, but in my experience change is hard. People (esp. church people) resist it. Which is understandable - if the whole world seems out of control with change, church might be the only place in life that's stable.
But when we hold too tightly we become marginalized. We cease to speak the language of the culture. We cease to be relevant. We are perceived as rejecting the world (because we aren't adapting). The extreme examples are Christian sects running around rural Pennsylvania in horse and buggy 'cause they reject technology. These are wonderful, sincere people. This isn't meant as a criticism of their faith - only to point out the logical conclusion of change resistance.
*The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the population
of the planet.
*There are about 540,000 words in the English language which is about 5 times as many as during Shakespeare’s time.
*It’s estimated that a week’s worth of The New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.
*It’s estimated that 1.5 exabytes (1.5 x 10 to the 18th power) of unique new information was generated worldwide in 2006, which is estimated to be more than the previous 5,000 years.
*The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years.
What does all this mean for the church? It means a ton. It means change. And change. And more change. You'd think a people that are all about conversion and transformation would be hip to change, but in my experience change is hard. People (esp. church people) resist it. Which is understandable - if the whole world seems out of control with change, church might be the only place in life that's stable.
But when we hold too tightly we become marginalized. We cease to speak the language of the culture. We cease to be relevant. We are perceived as rejecting the world (because we aren't adapting). The extreme examples are Christian sects running around rural Pennsylvania in horse and buggy 'cause they reject technology. These are wonderful, sincere people. This isn't meant as a criticism of their faith - only to point out the logical conclusion of change resistance.
