If you haven't heard about the crack smoking lesbian, you haven't really been to church

Change.

It's a scary word. It immediately brings negative thoughts to mind. Change is uncertain. Change is uncomfortable. The thought of change can motivate us to stay in our ruts, to be happy with the status quo.

But change can be good. Change can be exciting, refreshing. Change can motivate us to strive for something better.

No matter which way we look at it, change is necessary. The question is which attitude we will face it with.

I grew up in a small town Baptist church. We had 60 people on a good day, 100 for a special day like Easter or Christmas. It was comfortable, friendly. It was a place that encouraged learning, healthy relationships, and love. It's where I was saved, where I was baptized, where I grew in my faith. But as time passed, change was needed. The enthusiasm was gone, the purpose was lost, and it became routine instead of inspiring, worship no longer had meaning it was just "what we do on Sunday mornings."

I can count on one hand the number of people who tried to bring about change. Any change, no matter how small, that would rekindle the fire in that church. But those people were accepted about as well as their ideas and not one of them are left in that congregation. The church is dying, perhaps already dead, left with no one but those members who have just always been there and always will be until they pass away. All stemming from of a fear of change.

I'm guilty of it too. I normally fear change. But I had reached a point in my spiritual life where I craved it. So I stepped out of the box and started attending church online at Lifechurch.tv. Obviously the traditionalists at my old church don't see it as church at all. To them I have become the bad mother who has deserted her family on Sunday mornings, the incompetent parent who is providing a bad example for my children. But for me it's about being fed. It's being able to finally, after several years, hear from God again, know that he's in control, and listen to what he wants me to hear on a regular basis. There is no bickering, no politics, no distractions to keep me preoccupied, to hurt me, to make me angry. For that, I am a better mother, I am a better wife, and, most importantly, a better Christian. It hurts to know what they think of me, but I have to remind myself that I am where I feel God has led me and that my family is healthier because I have chosen to listen.

This weekend I had the pleasure of watching a message from Steven Furtick, lead pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. He's young, he looks like a rock star, and he'd make the old church members in Mudhole, OK roll their eyes because he's not wearing a suit and tie while he preaches. When he mentioned the Karate Kid and a crack smoking lesbian in this week's sermon, those deacons up the hill would have been scrambling for a way to run him out of the pulpit before noon. And while they sat and thought about those things they would be missing inspiration from one of the most impressive young pastors I have ever heard. A truly passionate man of God.

They wouldn't hear that because he represents change. The change they fear. The change that means there are rock songs replacing their old hymns, there are sermons being broadcast on a video screen, there are people in jeans and t-shirts in a house of God. But those changes are necessary. Those changes aren't compromising beliefs, they aren't polluting the message we're trying to get across. Those changes are what are reaching the generations who have felt uncomfortable and unwelcomed in the traditional church. Those changes are what are bringing people to Christ.

Change without compromise.
Stand firm in God's word, change the approach. It's what will save churches, it's what will save people.