We are in a time of Deep Change.
This is not a time of incremental change.
“Incremental Change” is a change that comes in small portions and we are called on to manage the different.
“Deep Change” is a change that is a re-set… one in which everything shifts and changes, and where we must adopt a posture of surrender in order to begin to see the new work God is wanting to do.
Most of us build our identity around what we do… what we know… our abilities to perform… or who we know. We develop a set of rules and practices based around this identity that gives us “boxes” and “answers” which help us cope with the periodic struggles and changes of “normal” day-to-day life.The problem is that this approach works against us in a time of “Deep Change.”
“Deep Change” is a radical shift into a new set of paradigms and a new set of challenges. It is why you have wondered in these last few months, “Why do so many disturbing things seem to be happening all at once?” It is because this moment in time is a different moment in time.
“Deep Change” often requires abandoning methods and practices that in the past that have brought us certainty and stability.
“Deep Change” is about allowing Christ to take us to a new place… to be His sheep again… to hear the Shepherd’s voice and follow HIM as HE takes us to a new pasture (John 10:1-18).
I am not calling for an abandonment of the truth in the Word… but I am talking about living out what we say we believe and re-surrendering to Christ as He leads his sheep and His Church.
The uncertainties and the unexpected of this moment in time sets a trap. These moments cause us to want to go back… to be defensive… to adopt a reactive posture to the unknown. Many of us right now are not living… we are “defending.” We are so afraid about what we don’t know and what’s ahead, that we seek to straighten out everyone else… arguing what others should “believe” and how people who call themselves “_________” should act.”
Robert Quinn, who wrote a book entitled, “Deep Change,” calls this moment in time as one of “walking naked into the land of uncertainty.” In moments of “Deep Change” we need to be willing to step-back, re-look at our fundamental assumptions, rules and paradigms and adopt a new posture of learning… about ourselves… our God… and the culture in which He has placed us.
Maybe we (in the end) don’t see it as clearly as we thought? Maybe things were not really working as good as we wanted to believe? And maybe there are things we need to learn and views we need to change, even if the messages comes from some unlikely voices.
We are not going back to “normal.”
This is a different moment in time.We can try to deny and resist this change, or we can lean in and allow God to change us. Jesus did not baptize the methods… He baptized us into the Gospel. We change the world only by changing ourselves. This is not just a cute saying, it is the key that opens the door to growth and transformation. Personal renewal precedes all other change.
It’s about being okay with not having the answers, but rather having the courage to journey with the questions.
This has happened before… The entire world shifted in a time of “Deep Change” when God moved in on the lives of some tradesmen after 400 years of silence. Their time of “Deep Change” meant a life-changing change… a seeing what even the deepest God-lovers were blind to… that all the nations would have access to God. They chose a new vulnerability and posture of growth. They lived with more questions than answers as they “followed.” And it changed the world.
Instead of repeating the past and its short-comings… what if we as a people chose to move into the future… and this time of “Deep Change.” And by the way… most of us who know Christ today are the benefactors of those early disciples going through a time of “Deep Change.” As a result, the Gospel spread from the Israelites to the Gentiles, and swept the rest of us into His Kingdom.
