When Everything Changes

Photo by MARIOLA GROBELSKA on Unsplash

NOTE: I have not posted anything recently due to a vacation last month and the factors listed below. Paid subscribers received a one-month extension to their subscriptions. Regular postings will now resume.

I am publishing this article at the beginning of Lent, a season traditionally set aside for reflection, prayer, and repentance. For me this year this all started earlier. I have found it hard to write this past month or so when the world seems to be coming apart at the seams.

For the New Year, I was planning to launch an interesting new series here on ChoGBlog, but recent events within the United States have overshadowed the seemingly less dramatic issues of the Church of God. I want to get back to talking about that series very soon; but in the meantime, all that is going on in the world right now requires specific attention.

We are living in a period of monumental change, and how we respond as followers of Jesus has tremendous implications for our witness and ministry within the world. The issues are not only political, but deeply spiritual as well. They exacerbate the upheavals evident in our movement.

It feels like everything is changing. Of course, in truth, not everything is. God’s essence and character remain unchanged, and many other elements of our lives are holding steady, for now. Yet the impact of all that is happening cannot be ignored.

Throughout history there have been pivotal periods when massive disruption has altered the trajectory of humanity. Certainly, we are not the first or the only people who have experienced profound challenges and difficulties, so we must be careful not to overstate our plight. Nevertheless, what we are experiencing now has both immediate and long-term consequences that will be felt for decades.

The evidence is that changes of great magnitude trigger resets where old paradigms and approaches lose their efficacy, requiring us to adapt with new assumptions and responses.

We may be at that point.

On the surface, contemplating this critical juncture can feel overwhelming, stressful and discouraging. Stick with me, however. This post is not intended to be negative, but ultimately a call for prayerful consideration of the opportunities before us.

We must, however, begin by speaking truthfully about our current reality.

The Big Picture

Those following current affairs will, of course, be well aware of the political and social earthquake that is rumbling at this moment in the United States and creating powerful aftershocks around the world. Whereas once America stood as a bastion for liberty, Christian ideals, and contribution to world order, our very fabric is unraveling before us as we slip into an era of fascism. Our nation is divided. There is growing distrust, fear and injustice. Human dignity is under attack, and innocent people are losing their lives. Alliances among nations are shifting and new centers of power are forming.

For us who follow Jesus, these are not only external threats. Influential sectors of the American church have enabled the political calamites of our time. Tragically, Evangelicals, in particular, have actively bolstered parties, politicians and policies with the false hope that courting power is the antidote to the problems that ail us. This has been backed by religious impulses that are Christian in their appearance, but in practice dishonor Christ in their allegiance to the civic gods of power and greed.

First-century Christians would be dismayed by our willingness to bow to Caesar. Instead of living as salt and light to the world, we have permitted the Good News of Jesus to be overshadowed by a distorted and impotent gospel reflective of the immoral individualism of our day. Jesus’ grand Kingdom vision for the redemption of all things has largely been ignored. Consequently, the world is increasingly rolling its eyes at us with cynicism. Many in the world are still intrigued by Jesus, but have largely given up their quest since many of his followers seem to have abandoned his teachings.

The troubles for the church in America are not limited to the sin of complicity. For at least three-quarters of a century, Christianity has been steadily losing its status and influence in Western society while our culture has shifted toward being post-modern, and now even post-liberal. For a growing number of people, the church is irrelevant, and therefore no longer has a central role in their personal lives, including rites of passage. Basic markers like church attendance, and religious beliefs and practices confirm this trend. Of particular concern is the loss of those from the younger generations.

The entire social and religious landscape is changing, and not for the better.

The Church of God

Of course, the Church of God is not isolated from these larger shifts in society and in Christianity. We are caught up in the same pressures and temptations, but we also face our own set of problems.

Within North America, at least, our movement is facing another critical organizational and leadership reassessment. From our beginnings 145 years ago, we have long struggled with how to structure ourselves to carry out cooperative work while remaining true to our convictions about the church. Now, the decisions we make over the next year or two will determine whether we remain a vital entity or fracture into oblivion.

To be sure, there are bright spots among us worth celebrating, however, overall the Church of God is experiencing decline in numbers and impact. We are aging out. Many congregations are in survival mode, and a leadership crisis is looming due to the dwindling number of pastors available.

There are also growing divisions across our movement. Much of this mirrors the larger political and social divides in the U.S., but it goes deeper for us. Despite the breakthroughs in our past, we have also struggled to fully function together in unity across racial, ethnic and regional differences. We lack the ability to engage meaningfully with each other over pressing theological issues that confront us, as we do not have effective vehicles for encouraging constructive dialogue and relational connectedness.

Two decades ago, Gilbert Stafford declared that we were at the “crossroads.” Today, I would argue, we have already entered the intersection, but are stalled, awaiting an impending collision.

Toward a New Future

If you are still reading along, you might be feeling the weight of the negative outlook presented above and wondering about my own frame of mind in writing this.

I am, by nature, an optimist, believing that no challenge is too great for turnaround. What I write here is out of deep love and appreciation for the Church of God, the movement that has shaped me.

That being said, as I stated earlier, when everything changes (or at least seems to be changing) the playing field resets. Old rules and assumptions are no longer valid. This means that we cannot depend on familiar ways of doing things to solve the problems of today and tomorrow. If we are to thrive, let alone survive, we will be forced to make this transition and adopt new ways of thinking and acting.

As scary as it is to undergo thoroughgoing change, it is indicative of the way God works. In Christ, death to the past and resurrection to the future is what is necessary for “new creation”. Tragically, however, as humans we are often determined to stay with what we know instead of stepping out in faith to where God is leading us.

At this point in human history and in the story of the Church of God, we can no longer rely on tweaking what we have while expecting different results. Everything is changing around us. Nothing less than transformative change is required.

Except for our earliest years, the Church of God has been largely reactive to changing circumstances. A true movement is one that is proactive, operating out of a clear God-given vision that creates and takes advantage of opportunities.

So, what are these opportunities?

I believe that doubling down on our two core emphases of holiness and unity is the means by which we can be reinvigorated. I will have more to say about this in the future, but here are some initial thoughts:

Our world is desperately seeking followers of Jesus who live holy lives – those who put their faith into practice. Why not us to lead the charge? To do so, however, we will require a new holiness imagination. That is, moving beyond our fixations of the past and the culture wars of the present; instead committing to live consistent and whole lives that demonstrate the love and justice of God.

Unity should also be a place for us to shine, but we must begin with ourselves. We love to idealize the unity of the universal church even while our own movement is highly fractured. The best place for us to start would be to seriously address visible unity within the Church of God. Living this out, even imperfectly, would be a witness and stimulus for the entire Body of Christ.

My hope and prayer for us is that we use this period of external and internal change to:

1. Pause to hear God’s voice through prayerful discernment

2. Honestly identify and assess our current reality

3. Repent of what holds us back

4. Engage with each other in meaningful ways to explore how we can best represent holiness and unity today.

History is replete with periods of major change and disruption. We appear to be living through one of these moments right now. This is an occasion for us to move past a tepid, comfortable faith, and to fully embrace God and his calling for a world that desperately needs to hear and see the Good News of Jesus.