Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part X
In my last post, we were challenged during an Engagement Period, a period between where we currently are (Caterpillar Stage) and where we would be after a transformation (Butterfly Stage) during a metamorphic process by asking if we could face some tough questions without being offended or defensive? What might some of the questions be?
- Must you be a church member to belong to the Family of God?
- Does accountability to leadership have to come from a domineering hierarchal position? Can it come on a linear relationship where leadership could be in front of you to lead, behind you to protect, or next to you for fellowship?
- Should we accept a clergy/laity divide as normal and acceptable? Is there a Priesthood of Believers where all believers are equal in the body of Christ?
- Does church government have to be run by boards, committees, and hierarchal leadership which creates power struggles and church politics? Can it be run on peer relationships and giftings among believers through the five fold that builds a consensus through service?
- Can church positions be determined by passions and acts of service rather than through titles and positions of office?
- Can pyramidal leadership who “oversees” through control step down beside or next to their brethren in a linear relationship to “see over” what the Holy Spirit is already doing among His people, then release them to do it?
These are tough, soul searching question that we need to ask during the cocoon (Engagement Period). Our caterpillar mentality will want to hold on to traditions while our butterfly mentality will want to be open to change and acceptance. Only a willingness by the saints (clergy, laity, & staff) to engage with one another as peers, equals in the faith, can one move the transformation of a caterpillar of status quo to a butterfly who will soar. All parties will have to accept one another as peers, as a Priesthood of Believers, with diverse giftings, opinions, and points of view that are valid.
Are you willing to lay down your cause, your opinion, your personal theology at the foot of the Cross for the lives of your brethren in order to come up with a consensus? Truly, transitioning from a caterpillar to a butterfly will never come easy, but it must be done!