what i learned from my most recent fall project.

It's been said in the old adage that "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me". On an episode of Scrubs, J.D. changed the ending to "but words will hurt forever." It's a hilarious clip, but he nailed it right on the head. Most people can let go of what was said--including me to an extent (but as a writer & self-professed word nerd I remember words and phrases all the time).

But the way the words and actions are expressed, or the way that they make you feel...that's what's hard and takes some time to let go of, especially for me.

Unless I'm wrong (and if someone can point it out to me in Scripture in the correct context, then I'd love to be corrected), I don't believe that I'm called to be a "punching bag for Jesus" among other believers. I have the understanding that when it comes to the lost, they don't have the spiritual discernment & leading of the Holy Spirit, so there will be times when we as believers get "burned". And I can also see the perspective that in the instance that I take on the "punching bag" role, then as a believer I should take one for the team--a light persecution, if you will.

My motives in this project were to offer help, learn through leading and follow through on a conviction I'd recently been given by God from Acts 1:8 in reaching "my Jerusalem", my hometown. But from the words and actions and all that transpired, I find myself wondering if those goals were accomplished.

The phrases "We've never done it this way before," or "That's not how we did it last year," or "But we used to do it like this" are my nails on a chalkboard. It's that battle against change that brings churches to its knees, that the status quo should remain. One side thinks that changing the method is changing the message (when on some occasions, that's not the case), while the other side wants to change the method for relevancy's sake.

Yet as these phrases came to mind, another thought began to form. What if, after Christ came and paid the atonement for sin, that same mindset was prevalent among the early believers?

"But I've always given the offering to the Father on behalf of everyone else," the high priest would say.

"But last time we gave the blood sacrifice to pay the atonement for sins," the people would say. "And now you're telling me we're not doing it anymore?"

"But salvation has always been for the Jews. Now it's for the Gentiles too? We've never done it that way before..."

If the people in that time had been completely belligerent to change and refused to adapt, then a LOT of us would be on our way to Hell.

One of my favorite illustrations of refusal to change came from my oldest brother Brian during one of his sermons. He was spot-on when he walked over to the other side of the auditorium and pointed to the box on the wall, an item that people have never had a problem adapting to in everyday life--it was the air conditioner thermostat. People had lived without it before, but when the invention came--something that made daily living BETTER--this change was welcomed without hesitation.

The same can be said for The Church. There are so many things and ideas and methods that can be implemented to spread the cause of Christ in ways that we could never imagine, but we're so caught up in tradition and the status quo and resistant to change that we become content where we're at. But as a result, it cramps genuine worship, it puts a restriction on the leading of the Holy Spirit in church services & ministries...and it's all because we're not willing to change.

And in an effort to be completely transparent, I can tell you that I've been that way before. And if I thought really hard about it, there are probably some things that I'm still stuck in my ways on. But I've seen churches where tradition reigns, and I've seen churches that threw it all out the window. And the latter is so beautiful, so real, so Spirit-led.

And it's not all that bad either. You will find people who share your heart and passion and desire to break down the box who will take the journey with you. They'll help and encourage you to the ends of the earth in the effort to seek God's will. And that's what it's about.

His will.

Simply, Him.