the myth of change

one thing about change is that it happens. it does. whether we choose it or not it's going to happen. it's just an intrinsic part of life.

seasons change. time changes. people change. relationships change.

so i think it's a myth that we choose to change or not. because things change. maybe it's more about whether we choose to resist or embrace change. sort of.

it's like this: people physically grow and so we've got to change our clothes. and i think i can comfortably admit i pretty consistently wear a 36 waist. now, i could insist on wearing whatever size i wore in middle school, but that would be ridiculous. or even more absurd is thinking of a grown person still wearing huggies. we understand that as people physically grow -change- that dress necessarily changes.

seasons change. and we could resist that by wearing our swim suit in mid-january, but we understand that carries with it being pretty cold.

i guess what i'm saying is there are some areas of life we are comfortable with embracing change. we understand it. the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing. in some cases, we see it as just common sense.

the question then becomes, in what areas or what ways or situations or at what times do we need to embrace change or resist it. and that's where people most often disagree. because that can be opinion or a judgement call.

two thoughts on this and i'm going to go. and thad touched on both of these.

one. thad referenced having to chemically treat a swimming pool to maintain a proper balance. once we can admit to ourselves that things change, then we have to look at embracing change in a certain direction. when we don't affect a certain type of change, then things can spiral out of control in unhealthy, destructive sorts of ways. if nobody balances the chemicals in a pool, you either end up with a "stinky stagnant, mosquito infested, frog farm pool" or (if over treated) something that's equally unswimable because of chemical burns. so, if we choose to see change as inevitable, then we suddenly are faced with a different question. not 'do we change?' but rather 'in what direction are we going to choose to embrace changes?' and i think that's a more positive outlook.

and two. if we choose to resist change (notice i didn't say, 'not to change' because change happens, we are going to change, we simply choose to embrace or resist it...) anyhow, if we choose to resist change, then what we are saying is we've got this all figured out. we've got it nailed. we've finished. we're complete and done. that has a certain arrogance to it. i had somebody tell me once that within an organization, if you ever decide 'we're done' then you are. (pause... read that again and think about it) specifically within a ministry, we should constantly be open to God's leading and direction, the ways in which God is changing people and the growth of a ministry. we should be open to embracing change in directions that God is leading. (again, that's where disagreement creeps in because people can interpret change in different ways.) and that's where the attitude of being a life-long learner is important.

and so, 'do we change?' i think that's the myth about change. that's the wrong question based on a faulty assumption. the reality is that change happens. our question, then, is not 'do we change?' but 'are we going to embrace or resist change?' and 'in what direction am i going to affect change?'

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