"It’s been said that people hate change, but I don’t think this is entirely true. While many people enjoy routines and familiarity, they also welcome new things. Among other things, we like new seasons, new restaurants, new technology, new friends, and new adventures. It’s not change that people resist so much as being changed.
It’s not that we don’t like change, we just don’t want to change. This is because it’s hard. It’s uncomfortable, often humbling, and painfully difficult. But as Christians, we must remember that change is really at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. When we believe the gospel, we accept the truth that we need to change. We know we are broken people whom God is making new through Christ. Not only us as individuals, but we believe that God is going to make all things new" (Erik Raymond).
Churches are just people and this issue holds for the church as well. People will say that churches don’t like change, but it is more accurate that they just oftentimes don’t like the idea of being changed. Over the years I have heard church people say, “I want the church to grow, I just don’t want anything to change.” I read a church leader who likened that statement to say, “I want to lose weight, but I really want a bacon cheeseburger”.
When a Great Commission church is growing, changes need to be made to account for new families, new people, and to safely allow for the future health of the church. Conversely, when churches are declining and stagnant, the irony is change still occurs. A church that is slowly and steadily declining is going to inevitably change…just not for the good.
The Word never changes, Jesus is always faithful, we should never compromise our doctrine, but making changes as we add more and more new families to our body is a wonderful blessing as God continues to grow his church and I cannot wait to see how He uses us all along the way.