Overcoming Resistance to Change

To be the salt and light in the world we are called to be, we need to always maintain God’s unchanging truth but be willing to make changes in how that message is presented. Yet, in the church we frequently find resistance to change. Such resistance often stems from fears and insecurities.

The Great Commission Can Help Us Overcome Fears & Insecurities Related to Change . . . Continue reading Overcoming Resistance to Change

Managing Change Well Takes Christ-like Thinking

. . . Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom. 12:1-2)

While these verses pertain to a broader, spiritual application than some of the change we must manage in the Church, it does provide insight into the change process which involves the mind. This transformation (same Greek word, metamorphoo) is referenced in 2 Corinthians 3:18 . . . Continue reading Managing Change Well Takes Christ-like Thinking

Managing Change Well Takes Christ-like Attitudes

Think of what too often accompanies change in the Church — self-centeredness, self-ambition, arrogance / pride, disunity. These are the opposite of what God exhorts us to display toward one another in Philippians 2:1-4 — “being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

So, what is going wrong with the way we manage change? Read on in Philippians 2 and we find the answer. We are to . . . Continue reading Managing Change Well Takes Christ-like Attitudes

Managing Change Well Takes Christ-like Actions

Christ-like thinking and a Christ-like attitude should translate into Christ-like actions in the way we implement or manage change. Arriving at God’s will is not the only goal. God is just as concerned with the process in implementing or managing change. Notice the capitalized words: But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy IN ALL YOU DO; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Pet. 1:15-16)

Sometimes leaders want to make the right kind of changes but go about implementing change in ways that do more harm than good because . . . Continue reading Managing Change Well Takes Christ-like Actions

Power to Navigate Change Well

We humans tend to want to do things our own way, following our agenda. We tend to want what is comfortable and convenient for us. We tend to fear the unknown. We tend to react poorly when we feel threatened by change. We tend to get offended when other people resist changes we are trying to make. We need God’s power to rise above our natural tendencies so we . . . Continue reading Power to Navigate Change Well

Grace Bookend Your Change Process?

The Early Church dealt with a lot of change: following a risen and ascended Savior rather than One who walked among them here on earth, living in the Spirit, the bringing together of Jews and Gentiles who were described as having a “dividing wall of hostility” to form one Body, the Church — all new. Think through the adjustments they had to make, the challenges they faced, the breaking of old habits and traditions. . . . Continue reading Grace Bookend Your Change Process?