Unveling Christianity... (part 2)

Is Change Inevitable?

Without change we would not be where we are now. The early church would have never made it, the many councils would have never been necessary, the reformation would be non-existent, and we would probably not have heard the Gospel. I am not trying to diminish God of His sovereignty, I am simply trying to make us think about the facts at hand. Change is inevitable. Rob Bell in his book Velvet Elvis wrote:

Times change. God doesn't, but times do. We learn and grow, and the world around us shifts, and the Christian Faith is alive only when it is listening, morphing, innovating, letting go of whatever has gotten in the way of Jesus and embracing whatever will help us to be more and more the people that God wants us to be.

There are endless examples of this ongoing process, so I’ll describe just one. Around 500 years ago, a man named Martin Luther raised a whole series of questions about the painting the church was presenting to the world. He insisted that God's grace could not be purchased with money or good deeds. He wanted everyone to have their own copy of the Bible in a language that they could read. He argued that everyone had a divine calling on their lives to serve God, not just priests who had jobs in churches. This concept was revolutionary for the world at that time. He was articulating earth-shattering ideas for his listeners. And they heard him. And something big, something historic, happened. Things changed. Thousands of people connected with God in ways they hadn't before.

But that wasn't the end of it. Luther was taking his place in a long line of people who never stopped rethinking and repainting the faith. Shedding unnecessary layers and at the same time rediscovering essentials that had been lost. Luther's work was part of what came to be known as the Reformation. Because of this movement, the churches he was speaking against went through their own process of rethinking and repainting, making significant changes as a result.

And this process hasn't stopped.

It Can't.

In fact, Luther's contemporaries used a very specific word for this endless, absolutely necessary process of change and growth. They didn't use the word reformed; they used the word reforming. This distinction in crucial. They knew that they and others hadn't gotten it perfect forever. They knew that the things they said and did and wrote and decided would need to be revisited. Rethought. Reworked.

I think we live in a time where many churches are changing with the times. Some are changing to line up with the Biblical standard while others are changing to allow unbiblical teachings.

It is critical that our change is based solely on Scripture, not because we don't like something or want to make our faith politically correct. We must stay faithful to our creator, sustainer, redeemer and friend. Change is a good thing when we are realigning with God's word.