|
Some people seemingly want to change everything about the church of Christ , and some evidently even want it just to go away completely. Because of their efforts to bring about change, some have justly earned the label "change agent." Change for the sake of change makes no sense and may result in a worse condition than before. Recently, regarding the upcoming Presidential election, a woman said to me “I just want a change.” Upon further questioning it became apparent that she was a "died in the wool" Democrat and what she really wanted was her party back in power. What I'm thinking is that POWER might be the motivation, in many cases, for change, or to keep things the way they are, in the church.
We must not rule out that changes in religion are often required. Repentance, an important part of the plan of salvation, involves a COMPLETE CHANGE of direction. Change of direction for the church was exactly what brought about the Reformation and the Restoration movements, which were badly needed. Thus, just because someone constantly calls for reformation it is no reason to get in an uproar, label him as a "change agent" and/or false teacher and set out to destroy any influence he may have. What if he is right?
Changes can be bad. If we have the truth on an issue and are practicing it change would be wrong. But we must all realize that our historical teaching and practices are no proof, in and of themselves, that we have the truth. Truth is found by those who desire to have it and therefore seek to obtain it. I think it was truth Jesus was talking about when He said, "Seek and ye shall find." Not only should we welcome change, when it is necessary, but we should seek out areas where change is needed and do what we can to bring it about. By using good hermeneutics in our study of God's word we can overcome the desire to maintain tradition, and we can determine for sure what is error and what is truth, which will, if diligently pursued, result in freedom. Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."
|
