Change is a constant and still we act surprised. Civilization has marched forward, sideways, and backwards, but it never stops. It keeps marching. And still we act as though we are shocked by change. Do we think Jesus didn't anticipate the twenty-first century? Do we really believe Christianity has to be completely redefined because there is opposition from a unredeemed world? Or are we tired?
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Gal 6:9) Compassion fatigue is nothing new. We are a culture that wants to see quick results. We are impatient and lose interest when the fruits of our labor are not quickly experienced, but we are warned against this impatience. God warns us that the harvest will come, but the kingdom of God is not like a vending machine. The danger is that we would lose faith in God's way of doing things and begin to conform to the wisdom of our age in order to see quicker results. We see this occurring quickly in the early church as some tried to reshape the gospel to make it more palatable.
But that doesn't mean that we can ignore the times either. We are trying to reach real people in a real culture at a particular moment in time. Paul "became all things to all people." He matched the people around him as much as possible so his communication would be effective. There were limits. First, he learned the truth and chose truth over error. He knew his purpose was to become like those around him so he could bring the truth of God to them. His goal was to transform the world through the power of the spirit.
The second limit was sin. He did not want to lose what Christ had won for him. By sin, I mean active sin. There is nothing righteous about avoiding people who sin. In fact, that would be sin itself. We are following Jesus who came for the sick, not the healthy. There are many ways I can interact with my neighbors without actively sinning. And if that means I hear some swearing or have to inhale some cigarette smoke, then so be it. I can endure small discomforts for the sake of the gospel. Either that, or I will have to go cower with the self-righteous.
Change will continue to occur and I can work to keep up or I can disconnect and let the march go on while I ineffectively watch from the sidelines. I choose to keep up, but I refuse to become trendy. What's the difference? Where I engage. If I want to know my neighbors, then I need to spend time with them and become involved in the community they live in. No one should need to tell me about the changes going on around me. I should be experiencing them firsthand.
I become trendy when I get my news from the trend makers. Entertainment shows and gossip sheets thrive by creating a fictional "hip" for the uninformed. These are created by marketers trying to sell you the next big thing, and their products are mostly bought by shut-ins who don't yet have a life of their own.
I become trendy when I use Christian books and media as my primary way to get to know my neighbors. Don't get me wrong. I believe Christian literature is an important part of growth, but it is never a substitute for personal experience. By the time a book on contemporary culture is researched, printed, and marketed, it is often more than ten years out of date. The only way you know your neighbors is by spending time with them. There are a large number of outrageous Christian books and hastily produced Christian TV and radio that create fear and distort reality. Their end result is to produce fear and drive a wedge between us and those who need the truth of the gospel. I am careful of what I consume.
By the way, if you didn't get the reference in the title, David Bowie's Changes, then you have a little catching up to do (about four decades). Jesus didn't give us a large set of rituals, patterns for church services, or a detailed formula for sharing our faith. He gave us an active relationship with himself and universal guidance about the life he called us to. He isn't surprised by changes. The entire gospel does not need to be rethought because it's the twenty-first century, but our interaction with the world, our relationship with our neighbor, and our service and communication need to be.
Most of all, a lack of change makes us feel comfortable as we stay to the safety of our old ruts in the road. When we leave the ruts, we are in unfamiliar country. We need to depend on Jesus more. We need to follow the comfort of his voice rather than the comfort of tradition. We grip his hand a bit tighter when we turn and face the strange... changes.
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