The sheer velocity of change in this season – touching everything from routine tasks to global alignments – is leaving people and institutions out of breath and rife with stress. We wonder if the writer of Philippians could have imagined the world that would receive these words nearly 2,000 years later:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Confronted with this passage, your church board might well ask, “How on earth can we continue to work for change while not being anxious about anything?” Many a faith community has been stopped in its tracks because of resistance (or sabotage) in the face of needed changes. But it’s not the changes people are reacting to; it’s the experience of loss. How can your board address the feelings of loss in authentic ways while still moving your congregation to appropriately adjust in a world of change?
“Change is a word for a journey with stress,” Seth Godin has written.
You get the journey, and you get the stress. At the end, you’re a different person. Both elements are part of the deal. There are plenty of journeys that are stress-free. They take you where you expect, with little in the way of surprise or disappointment. You can call that a commute or even a familiar TV show in reruns. And there’s plenty of stress that’s journey-free. What a waste.
Let’s focus on the last option first: stress without the journey, without the learning, or growth, or building of new community. There is a natural temptation for congregations to absorb the stress of making changes and stop right there. “Well, we got through that,” we are likely to say. But we haven’t gotten past – or through – anything. If stress and change are treated as temporary interruptions, congregations will stagnate, and pastoral leaders will soon grow defensive or hesitant in their work.
So how about the second option? The inverse of journey-free stress … a stress-free journey! A journey through the land of the well-known and well-trod! Those journeys never offer long-term growth. Recent studies of American religion observe an important phenomenon: spiritual yearning is on the rise even as participation in communities of faith is declining. When our congregations offer “journeys without change,” we become poor delivery systems for the spiritual growth that people are longing for. The routine, the same as it’s ever been, rarely offers renewal or new life.
The best news is that the Bible is wise to all this – the stress, the journey, the need for change, the need for comfort. The promises of God give us assurance – and a prod for growth.
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face various trials, consider it all joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance complete its work, so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)
How do you react to Godin’s phrase, “You get the journey, and you get the stress”?
What is your personal experience of change as a journey? What did stress have to do with it?
What is your congregation’s experience of change as a journey? How did stress play a part?
How does the Philippians admonition, “Do not be anxious about anything,” strike you and your board? How could your board put that into practice as you lead your congregation?
What happens when you add James 1:2-4 to the Philippians passage? What might change in the way you and your board approach your work?
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