Most of us despise disruption. It interrupts our norms and stops momentum. It leads to conflict, and often forces change and change is something only some are comfortable with. In general, when we find what we like and want to hold on to it as long as possible. The mission is clear. Protect our routine. Protect our people. Protect our normal. Everything is just fine the way it is.
What if I told you that disruption is an inevitable part of life? What if I told you that change is unavoidable – that your routine, people, and a general sense of normalcy are shifting tectonic plates to the inevitable earthquakes of change in your life? What if I told you that disruption is the actual routine?
The Bible shares with us some sobering realities in this regard. In Ecclesiastes 3 it says:
To everything, there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to break down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh.
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.
A time to gain and a time to lose.
A time to keep and a time to throw away
A time to tear and a time to sew.
A time to keep silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time of war and a time of peace.
Is this not a picture of constant change? Does this not show us a picture of consistent disruption? As soon as we’re happy with what’s been planted, it may be time to pluck it up. It may be time to lose again as soon as we’ve finally gained. We all vacillate between weeping and laughing, mourning, and dancing, embracing, and refraining, tearing and sewing, silence, and speech, breaking down and building up, war and peace. We move from season to season. From disruption to disruption, the Bible is right; things are constantly changing. We are always changing.
So is the world around us. Most will agree that society feels different than it did 30 years ago, not to mention 100 years ago. New innovations have had profound effects on our cultural conversations and context. The internet, cell phones, social media, and A.I. are just a few agents of change that have provided for and given access to an unprecedented number of people to express themselves, fight for causes, and contribute to societal conversation. Our population is growing into a splendid, colorful collage of ethnic groups, cultures, and races of people. Our politics are increasingly divisive, and our children grow up way too fast. The plates are moving. Earthquakes are happening. Change and disruption are marching on.
Then there’s the Church. Well, to the masses, Christianity seems more and more connected to politics than to Jesus. The pews (I know we don’t use pews much these days, but you get it!) in churches are no longer filled and trust in the concept of church as a force for good who loves and serves the community is at an all-time low. We are no longer the home team in our culture. The crowd no longer cheers when we score. We are not known for our kindness, mercy, and inclusion. We struggle to show genuine sacrificial and unconditional compassion. To the world, we don’t care, and we don’t care enough about the fact that we don’t care. In a way, we’ve baptized “not caring” as a spiritual fight against those who aren’t us and don’t live the way we do. Where the church used to feel safe, it does no longer. Where we used to comfort the anxious and downtrodden, we have now created distance. In a changing, disruptive world, society perceives us as bringing our best energy to fighting and scratching to protect our routine, our people, and our norms instead of seizing the opportunity and responsibility to see disruption happening and to bring the socially sound, God-honoring, love infused gospel to it.
I suppose that’s why I’m writing this. A changing, routinely disruptive world needs an attentive and agile church. Not a compromising church, an agile church. A church that pays attention to and anticipates disruptions in and around its walls. A church that is ready, able, and willing to meet the challenge of change with the multi-capable, multi-faceted gospel of Jesus Christ. Even when it means disrupting our normal flow and sense of momentum.
To be such a church, I believe we must treat that allergy to change. “To everything, there is a season.” We can no longer afford to be surprised or threatened by change. We don’t have to be dismayed by social and cultural disruption. Instead, we can be energized! What an opportunity? What a time to be a believer? What a fantastic moment to seize our place in God's everlasting and unstoppable mission.
But to do this, we must recognize that seasons of planting require different energy than seasons of plucking and that seasons of mourning require other skills than seasons of dancing. New seasons mean new targets. New behaviors. New metrics. New people. New norms.
It’s not time to sit. It’s time to move!
Are you ready? Change is coming at every level. Society is changing. The Church is changing. Families are changing. And yes, you and I are changing. We can spend our time fighting it or gird our loins and prepare to bring the gospel to it. I hope we, as Bent Tree choose the latter together.
Photo by Buzz Andersen on Unsplash
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