3 Ways Change has Changed

Change has changed. Have you noticed?

Of course, you have. It’s all around us. You might not have thought about it, but you’ve certainly experienced the result of the way change has changed. I first wrote these thoughts 9 years ago, and they are truer today.

Change is constant. Always has been. But, in my opinion, it appears change is unique these days.

Change has changed.

Here are 3 ways change has changed:

Change is faster. 

The speed of change has accelerated. A word that came to my attention in the last few years is profusion. I had it defined for me in the book “In Search of Balance”  as “The generalized phenomenon of more.”  From technology, to clothing styles to the way we communicate, the pace of change is faster than ever before. Enough that I’ve done sermon series on how we should live in such a fast-changing world.

Less thought put into change. 

“Getting to market” seems more important than thinking through what you take to market these days. Social media has helped with that.

It’s bound to have an impact on quality. For example, I read articles in leading online magazines and newspapers with errors in them. That’s apparently acceptable now. The important thing is that new is introduced. At the current pace, it seems to me it would be impossible to put the research, design, and quality control into all the changes being introduced.

People are more accepting of change. 

Change appears to be more expected today than ever before in my lifetime. It’s almost anticipated. Again, I first penned these ideas 9 years ago, but a pandemic only solidified this one.

I’m not pretending it’s easier to lead once change is introduced. People still naturally resist change, but it’s almost an understood now that change is part of culture.

These are purely my observations. My question 9 years ago remains today –  as a church, since we have a message which can never be changed, how do we adapt to the way change has changed? We can’t change our message, yet we must reach a fast-changing society.

I have continued questions:

• How should we adjust to the way change has changed?
• Do we even try to keep up with the velocity and volume of change?
• Are there ways the church should be changing as fast as the world?
• Does it make our core mission – the simple truths – even more relevant today?

Nine years of thinking and I’ve not fully answered any of these questions.

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