Move

I don't like to move. Never have. As a child, thankfully, I didn't ever have to move but there were always these concerns about Dad's employment, and occasional conversations about what we'd have to do if he was laid off. Thankfully that never happened and I lived in the same house all through elementary, middle and high school.

It's God's strange sense of humor that causes him to call a guy who hates to move into United Methodist ministry. Because we move. It may be one of the things we're most known for.

And I hate to move. I hate the packing, the sorting, the time it takes to switch everything. I'd much rather stay put. I know how to do things here. I know where things are. I know people. There—well, everything's uncertain. Everything is new. Things are not in the same place and some things I've grown used to here aren't there.

I'd rather stay put.

Wouldn't we all?

And I'm not just talking about physically moving. Some people do that a lot in their lifetime, and some do it very little. But we're all called to move spiritually, to not just "stay put" and become comfortable with the way things are. We're called to move on, to grow up and mature in Christ.

Churches, too, get comfortable, even if we try to make it appear otherwise by updating the buildings or the music style. We're still set in our ways and expect everyone to do it and understand it our way. I've heard it said that, in many churches, if the 1950's ever come back, we're ready. Because we'd rather stay put. We know how things work. We know where things are. Don't ask us to move, or to engage the culture beyond our walls. Don't ask us to...change!

Now, let me be clear: there are some things we must not change. There are core doctrines that are critical to who we are as Christians. There are beliefs in the Scriptures that are clear. There is bedrock we must build upon. But there are so many things we hold onto that have nothing to do with core beliefs or with Scripture. We hang onto traditions and practices that no longer help people come to know Jesus...just because we're determined to stay put.

Thom Rainer, in his little book Autopsy of a Deceased Church (don't you love the title!), tells the story of Harry Truman. Not Harry Truman the president. Harry Truman, the man who lived at the foot of Mt. Saint Helens in Washington state. Truman was told that the mountain was preparing to erupt, and that his house was in the most likely lava path. Family, friends and government officials implored him to move, to leave, and yet Truman refused. He was determined to stay put.

On May 18, 1980, the mountain erupted. On May 18, 1980, Harry Truman died because he refused to move.

What are the things we hold onto too tightly? What are the things we think we cannot give up? Worship styles? Worship service times? Our own needs rather than the needs of a broken world? Where would we prefer to "stay put," even as the volcano is erupting?

I hate to move. But, like Abraham, I'm willing to go—both physically and spiritually—where God calls if it will help God's kingdom grow. What about you? Where is God leading you?

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