change ahead sign on roadThe Emmy Awards were recently on television.  The awards are given out to individuals for their accomplishments in front of the camera and behind the camera on our popular television shows.  Big winners this year included persons connected to shows like Ted Lasso, The Queen’s Gambit, and The Crown.  Heather and I enjoy watching the Emmy’s each year.  As much as anything, we like to see who the big winners are so we know what shows we need to watch.

Well, in watching the Emmy’s this year it became apparent that television is changing.  Oh, we still watch a lot of television, but the way we watch television is different.  We watch many of our shows using the streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.  Furthermore, we binge watch.  We watch many of our shows at one time.  Change is definitely in the air.

For many of us, our tendency is to fight change on all levels.  We want things to remain “as is.”  However, change is something we cannot avoid.  Change is definitely apparent in the church.

A general way that I approach change is to focus on the teachings of St. Augustine, the early church leader.  Augustine would say that in regards to change in the church, or any other walk of life, we need to follow this model, “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, freedom; in all things, love.”

For starters, we need to focus on the essentials in life.  We need to find unity with others on the important matters, the majors in life, whatever they may be.  Some things should never change over time.  Secondly, we need to allow freedom for the non-essentials.  There are certain areas that don’t need common agreement and we can allow new forms of expression.  One person can do this.  Another can do it.

Yet, in everything we do, we need to “love one another.”  We don’t want to let change, or differences of opinion, tear apart the common bonds we have.

Moving forward in the church, and so many areas of life, might we focus on the common good we can do together!  Blessings to you!  Scott