Change and Adaptation

Written by Bishop Max Whitfield Tuesday, 24 November 2009 00:00

She was adamant, “Either this is what the Church teaches, or it is not. It is either true or false. If the members do not agree then they need to get out or change their minds.” Part of me wanted to agree with her. It would be so much easier if decisions were either black or white.

I remember when I studied some math problems and the teacher explained there were several possible right answers. It did not fit in my worldview. Every problem had one right answer. Everything else was wrong. How could we possibly have several right answers to the same problem? I wanted everything to be logical, with a definite cause and effect. Surely, something was wrong when several answers could be right for the same problem.

This past weekend I enjoyed several hours with my children and grandchildren. Kevin asked to be excused because one of his team members had confronted a problem he did not know how to solve. The struggle went up the ladder until it finally rested on the directors table. Several minutes passed before Kevin returned. “Did you get the problem solved?” I asked. “I do not know. I made some changes and we will see if those get us through this session. Our computer software is old and we have made so many changes, what I did may or may not work. What I did may have only created some different problems.”

As I listened to him, I knew we were functioning in two different worlds. I expected that he would know whether either the work he performed fixed the problem or it had not. I function out of the “either or” world. My son lives with several different possible right answers to the same dilemma.

Each year I participate in an event called the Bishops Learning Group. It is an event where fifteen to twenty active bishops, committed to ongoing learning, gather for four days of dialogue and study. We read books in preparation for the event and then a group facilitator, with expertise in a particular area of study, guides our conversation. This year our focus is young adults, how they communicate, and how we can communicate effectively the Christian faith to them. I jokingly claim that I am ancient and have no idea how to communicate with young adults. After reading the assignments for the event, I will no longer joke about this issue. Today’s young adults are significantly different from my children. The way they learn, view reality, God, Church, Bible, and faith deviates from my perspective to such a degree that I must make a gigantic shift to communicate effectively the gospel story.

The most distressing part of my discovery is how far removed most congregations are from this age group. Even our most creative congregations fail to speak the language and understand the momentous changes required to comprehend and communicate to this age group. I had assumed we had a changeless gospel communicated through an ever-changing medium. It shocked me to realize the media and medium effectively changed the message.

That age-old question stares me in the face. With such dramatic changes, will I simply curse the darkness or will I light a candle? Will I adapt to a culture so different from my own experience? Will I scream and demand others think and act in a way that seems reasonable to me? My response will determine my effectiveness as I continue to seek to make disciples for the transformation of the world.

Grace & Peace,
Max