Day 124: Change that Saves

"But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation."  Hebrews 9:11

This is a message that is so pertinent to today, especially for those who wish to see the Church continue to grow.

To start, this passage refers specifically to the new tabernacle that Jesus brings about with his coming to earth.  He instituted something that was drastically different: one sacrifice for all eternity, a complete forgiveness of sin, love of God.  That's quite a change from the older Mosaic tabernacle, but it was necessary for the spreading of the Gospel.

Today, there are many churches that are dying everywhere, and those congregations are turning to many different consultants from different places.  Some are even looking to consultants for large businesses so that they can make the best business decisions.  But, I would say that there is a fundamental issue: we hold onto our old customs, even if they do lead us straight to complete failure.

We want to be comfortable.  We know that things that have sustained us for long stretches of time should still work.  At the very least, those things are comfortable.  When I was a little kid, I loved eating fried foods as my main source of food.  However, over time, I gained lots of weight because of my decisions, and, even more recently, I'm finding that fried foods make my stomach upset for quite a long time after enjoying.  Yet, I want to be able to eat them because they are so good!

I am sure that we all have issues that we could talk about.  Maybe you can't run as far as you used to.  Maybe you shouldn't see that one ex lover who used to be great in the past but now only serves as a temptation to you.  Maybe you can't sit in front of the TV all day because of the threat of debilitating weight complications.

We need this same sort of mentality with our churches.  The churches are not ours; they are God's.  As such, we need to remember to listen for God's advice on all matters.  That might mean that you will have to start playing different music.  That might mean that you will have to incorporate more modern language, or even an entirely different language.  That also might mean that you will have to dissolve a community and embrace another.  I cannot speak for every church that is out there, but I do know that there are always difficult decisions to be made.  And that's where we need to start remembering what Jesus has done.

Jesus has come into the world to bring us all closer to God via change.  Jesus wants to change us all for the better.  That means that we need to be going back to God every chance that we get (which is, of course, all the time).  Jesus is showing all of the good things that are in existence.  Most of all, we need to remember that Jesus is going to be working in our communities, even when that means that our hand prints will be supplanted by his.

When we allow for Jesus to renew us, we will be able to change for the better.  We need to open up our arms that were once crossed in front of us so that we can welcome Christ's embrace.