JAC #50 Online

Change and Challenge
from JAC Issue #12
by
Commissioner Wesley Harris

As a corps officer I once had a songster leader who was a dentist by profession. With a wry smile he used to quote a line of a hymn: “Change and decay in all around I see”. He could say that again! A humorist has remarked that the moment Adam and Eve were turned out of the Garden of Eden, Eve may have remarked, “My dear, we live in changing times!” In fact, of course, all times are changing. Where there is life there is change; that has always been the case and always will be so. What is new is the rate of change which has been accelerated by many factors including scientific and technological advances.

During my lifetime the world has been affected by the introduction of television, computers, space travel and many other developments which have had far-reaching effects. H. C. N. Williams, a former provost of Coventry Cathedral, England, has said that history may be seen to flow like a great river carrying the commerce and communication of human society and providing the means for cleansing and refreshing humanity as it flows on its course. Then from time to time the river changes its level and flows in confusion and at a greater speed down the rapids from one level to another. Its course is broken by jagged rocks and there are whirl pools and a great deal of froth.

The period through which we are living is like the river flowing down the rapids. Whereas in the past there may have been times when change was gradual and predictable now it is speedy and unpredictable. Some find change intimidating and, so to speak, are liable to clutch the bank and try to avoid the rapids. Others face the challenge of change and determine to ride the rough water, keep their balance and avoid the rocks that would wreck their best intentions. Not every change may be for the best but the trick is to find the best in every change.

In the midst of change, in some parts of the Army a lot of people seem to have an identity crisis and are unsure about the mission of our movement. But in our history we may discover ‘His story’ and abundant evidence of God working through his people. It appears that God has not made us just another religious denomination but something else as well. Our social and evangelical work are two sides of the same coin of caring. Our mission is not only to the soul of a person but the whole of a person - and indeed the whole of society. Church growth need not be ‘churchy growth’. It may incorporate our ‘distinctives’ and can and should embrace our social as well as our corps work.

Loren B. Mead in, The once and future Church, describes the polarity in the Church’s understanding of its mission. Is it the conversion of the world or the serving of the world? Part of the glory of the Army is that it has embodied both of these concepts as contained in the teaching of Jesus. We are out to save and serve the world and whatever happens we must maintain that critical balance through all the changes taking place in and around our movement.

Some changes will come whatever we may or may not do and we must be ready to adapt and adopt accordingly. In other cases we should have the courage to be agents of change, moving ahead with cautious courage and prayerfully seeking for insight and foresight - knowing that one day people will judge our actions with the advantage of hindsight! But in all this we should not become addicted to change for the sake of change. There is wisdom in the old adage, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and it may help to sober some who have become high on change and can’t resist altering any thing which has been even when it is perfectly all right!

As we face new situations our attitude will make all the difference. The founder of the Bata shoe company spoke of sending two representatives to different parts of Africa to check out possibilities for business development. After a couple of weeks one wired back to say that there were no prospects because no on-one wore shoes anyway. The other representative said that the market was wide open. Nobody had shoes therefore they all need what the firm had to offer!

Turning out an old trunk I came across a plaque bearing some words I wrote years ago: “Think positively, act decisively, live creatively”. As I ‘ate my own words’ I found that they didn’t taste too bad and were not unrelated to what may be required in these days.

It is natural that we will sometimes fear change because it leads into the unknown. But there is no need to think that the bend of the road is the end of the road or that God who has helped us in the past will fail to undertake for us in the future. We have his promise that he will not let us down, so why worry? We might well make our own the prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr, “Give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what should be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference”.

 

 

 

   

 

your shopping is guaranteed safe using SSL

eStore account - Sign Up Now! Contact Us - General. Technical Support. Sales Jesus is amazing!  If you see this image tag you should know that He is THE way... not a way!  Grace!
Home Terms of Use Privacy Policy Sitemap Contact Us
copyright ARMYBARMY
armybarmy