Ever get to a point where you wish everything would just stop because it's perfect? Maybe you've worked hard to get something to where it's at and you feel good about the accomplishment. How about having tried what works and what doesn't and you land on that which works? It works. Leave it alone. Let's not mess with a good thing.
Leaders know that messing with a good thing is precisely what needs to happen if the church is going to grow. If you wait until you have to change, you're too late. Change before you have to and you will chart the course for future growth.
I remember back in the day as a staff pastor I would run around like I knew what I was talking about and invoke that worn out cliché "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I was really using code language for "I don't want to make the effort to change." Rather than applying the unconventional wisdom that came from books like If It Ain't Broke... Break It I unintentionally lobbied for the status quo. Why? Because change can be hard and is often uncomfortable.
A good friend of mine, Rob Ketterling, wrote an outstanding book by the title of Change Before You Have To. You need to read that book. In it he describes what it is like to discover a new life of abundance, passion, and satisfaction. And it doesn't happen by sitting still.
From my work consulting leaders and pastors on navigating change, here are six reasons I have come to believe are the driving force for changing before you have to:
1. No one ever stays the same. You are either moving forward or you are moving backward. You cannot sit still. You may think you can but just the moment you believe that, you have stepped into decline. So don't be deluded. No one ever stays the same. You will always change. Make it good.
2. Change avoids lethargy. Lethargy is a hallmark of the status quo and decline. Personally and professionally you can avoid lethargy by changing things around you. Change what you do and how you react. Not doing so produces lethargy and ultimately death. Doing so produces invigorating life and renewal.
3. Change creates newness and refreshment. On January 1st of each year, we start new. The calendar rolls over. We have to be retrained to write the correct year on the dates we list. If not, we stay in the old year. The refreshing occurs when the cobwebs of "same ol', same ol'" are broken, and newness and change replace them.
4. Change puts you ahead of the curve. If you look at business leaders you see they don't wait to react. They are proactive. They make things happen. I remember a conversation I had with a mentor/friend of mine while living in Iowa. It was about a noted commercial real estate developer in our area. My mentor said, "Bill (the developer) doesn't wait for things to happen. He goes into a corn field and makes things happen." He was ahead of the curve. Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Fast Company... these organizations change first and get ahead of any curve. You should too.
5. Organizations that resist change cease to grow. In the business classic Good to Great, Jim Collins repeatedly shows how multiple-decades-old companies that changed were able to move from being good companies to being great companies. Companies that resisted change were relegated to the also-rans and ultimately died. The mission of the church is too great for us to ever allow the resistance to change to lead it to death.
6. Our God specializes in change. He took your life when it was far from Him and made it new. He took that which was broken and fixed it. He broke your willful disobedience and gave you a submissive, willful desire to serve Him. If He loves to change people, how much more should we want to change ourselves and the church we lead? I say, let's follow His lead.
If you think about it, these six reasons to change can set the stage for some of the greatest life and ministry you've ever experienced. I encourage you to get after it and change before you have to.
Dick Hardy is the Founder and President of The Hardy Group, a Pastoral Leadership Consulting firm for lead pastors. His tag line is, "Everything But Preaching." He notes that pastors love to preach. It's all the other stuff that eats their lunch.
Dick has served as an Administrative Pastor, Chief Operating Officer, Non-Profit Executive Director and College Vice-President. He consults personally with pastors who are tired of the status quo and want to see substantive change and growth in the ministries they serve.
Copyright © 2013 by Dick Hardy. Permission is granted for the free redistribution of this article. You may contact Dick at dhardy@thehardygroup.org or visit the website http://www.thehardygroup.org.
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