So what have we established so far? The church is evolving and many are hesitant (though many are eager). Change should not be feared, but embraced. Why? Because God is relevant, therefore the Church should be as well. But there is a danger: relevance is often misplaced as the guide for the Church, rather than the Gospel and God’s directive.
So what can be done to avoid this pitfall. Is it even worth it to change something that has worked for so long, just to have something that can potentially dangerous? It’s absolutely worth it because I believe God wants His Church to reach our world, our culture with His Gospel, and if that isn’t effectively happening with our beloved past methods of “doing church” then it must change. Plus, we’re assuming that there is no danger at all in our former”traditional” system, when there is. I believe it is equally dangerous to embrace tradition as the standard (just as some churches wrongly embrace relevance), rather than God.
So here lies the problem, I believe. God must remain as the supreme authority, rather than methods. The methods must be fluid, always ready for change. God’s standards and values do not change, therefore, we must rely on that. We must always filter our methods and decisions through those values God lays out in the Scriptures (never the other way around). Our methods of doing church should never be the filter, but must be the things to be filtered. The Gospel is the standard, therefore should be embraced more than anything. Methods will come and go, so we must not fret when change arrives at our door. Instead, embrace then change in respect to the Gospel.