I’ve been thinking a lot about change recently, especially wondering why people seem so swift to resist change. One reason I think we resist change at church is because of the chaos we have in other areas of our lives. We have unpredictable family members and uncertain careers. Our physical health is always in imminent peril and if we learned anything about our personal wealth in 2007 its that it can virtually vanish with one sudden downturn of the economy. Most areas in our lives are not in our control, leaving “church” as the one thing we can “control.” In turbulent times we look for security and predictability, and if our churches maintain the same week in week out, year in year out predictability, we can find comfort and tranquility. Therefore, even the smallest adjustments on the church landscape may be met with resistance just to maintain that one sacred space of sameness.
People may fight change in our churches simply because they cannot fight change anywhere else in their lives.
