A year or two ago, I came across an interesting quote from G.K. Chesterton. (He was a Christian, and also one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century.)
He started by explaining that it is a common misconception to believe “if you leave things alone, you leave them as they are.” Then he adds, “If you leave a thing alone, you leave it to a torrent of changes. If you leave a white post alone, it will soon be a black post. If you particularly want it to be white, you must be always painting it again. Briefly, if you want the old white post, you must have a new white post.”
That reminds me of church. If we want to remain the church that God has called us to be, we (Christians) will probably have to do things differently than we did in 1965, 1985, or even 2005. If we want to keep being a church that effectively communicates the timeless truths of Jesus, we’ll have to do it in a way that is relevant to our time.
It is ironic. But it looks like in order to be the same, we’re going to have to change. That is one of the reasons why Good News is striving to be a current (or contemporary) church.
