Leading Change

I am feverishly reading an additional five+ books for the class I finished last week. The class is "Leading Change" and addresses organizational and leadership transitions and how to navigate and lead them effectively. In life and in the church we often get comfortable with routines and ways of doing things, so much so that we stop noticing things we might have noticed before.

When I was getting ready this morning I opened the drawer in my bathroom that holds my makeup and brush. My 7 year old came in asking if she could use my eyelash curler. I almost warned her to hold the drawer carefully when she opened it, if she didn't it would fall out, but she already knew. I remembered when it first broke. I made the adjustment, tightened the screw, and it held for a day, but the screw had stripped the wood and the bracket that held it in place would not stay attached. I think I fixed it one more time and it held for a day, then broke again. I am ashamed to admit that was probably 2 years ago. I have gotten used to holding it in place. I don't even notice or think about it any more...well until today. It bothered me that my acceptance had led to the acceptance of my daughter. When had it become routine?

We are like this with a lot of things in life and unfortunately the church seems just as likely to succumb to acceptance of how things are instead of working for changes that can mean transforming lives. We grow dull as time passes and accept things as they are rather than stepping back to change or fix what is not working.

Sometimes seeing things clearly takes seeing through the eyes of someone else, hearing the perspective of others, and making the necessary...GASP...changes.