They Keep Rewriting the Rules!

Transitions happen, sometimes at a pace that outstretches our ability to keep up.  Telephones had cords not that long ago.  People wrote notes on paper instead of Facebook and Twitter.  Computers sat on desks instead of in palms.  Things shift rapidly.  Because of that, life can become disorienting and scary.

When you think about it, it's the rule-changing that throws us off.   Game-changers rewrite the rules.  (Game changers are things like the Gutenberg press, the discovery and colonization of the Western Hemisphere by Europe, the cotton gin, electricity, flight, computers, the microchip, etc.)   For instance, Generals Grant and Sherman rewrote the accepted "rules" of "gentlemanly" warfare, and crushed the South during the Civil War.  Our country is still affected by this shift, rightly or wrongly.  Each time a pivot in history happens, we struggle to figure out the new rule set.  Then, as soon as we do, the next shift hits us.

Look at an example from my world.  The church of which I am a part is one of the many courageous United Methodist congregations in our state that has decided to be obedient to Jesus' marching orders as expressed in Matthew 28:19 and Acts 1:8.  It has not been an easy journey, here or in any other church like us.  We've had to shift from being a congregation mostly concerned with maintaining our own internal structure and focusing on the people we already have, to restructuring our focus outward on the people who have yet to meet Jesus.  In most established, long-term Christian churches, that's a discovery-of-electricity level shift.  Once church involvement was defined by showing up at worship, maybe attending Sunday School, pledging to the church budget, serving on a committee when asked, and voicing your vote to direct the pastor, the leaders, and the programs of the church.  A missional focus for a congregation rewrites these rules along the lines of the Book of Acts.   Involvement is now defined by making a personal commitment to Jesus, growing in relationship with Jesus in daily and disciplined way, binding with other Jesus-followers in this growth, discovering how the Holy Spirit has called and equipped each of us for ministry, and doing that ministry while introducing others to Jesus.  The old rules were like a democracy making group decisions on directions.  The new, first century model is more like an army under command taking objectives.  For most like me who are into their sixth decade of church or more, this is a seismic change.  It is a complete shift of the rules of the game; disorienting and frightening.

So, what do we do when the game-changers throw us off in any organization or just in our personal lives?   Maybe we just need to remember that we have responded to major game changers already - each one of us.  Once I was in the care of my mother every day, and then I walked into a public school for the first time.  Game-changer!  I survived, and the core identity which is "me" stayed in tact.  Once I lived at home, and then I had to survive on my own in a college dormitory.  It was a major shift, but I managed to navigate the new terrain.   Once I was single, and then I was married and had children.  All the rules got rewritten, but it was worth it.  You get the idea...we have more experience and capability to handle the game-changers than we think we do. 

That being the case, maybe the game-changer shifts in life and the subsequent upset of the rules can be more of an opportunity than a threat.   What if we approached any such transition with an open-ended question:  "What might the game look like now?"

And we can remember that there are some things that don't shift, like core values.  For people of my faith system, God is still God, Jesus is still Lord, the Holy Spirit is still moving in our midst, and our task still is leading people in new life with Jesus.  We just need to keep asking what that looks like when the game-changers happen.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.