January marks the beginning of a new year, the turning of a page, a clean slate … it means a chance for things to start afresh and anew. But ironically the church is probably one of the hardest places to start new or fresh things … why is that? The church seems to get bogged down in keeping things static, the way it has always been. Maybe we are holding on too tightly to our precious traditions? Perhaps we are fearful of the unknown? In an organization that is based solely on having faith in what we cannot see, what is holding us back? Why is the church afraid of change?  

The United States Railroad gauge (the distance between rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches; why such an odd distance? Simple, that is the way it was built in England, and since it was what was known, it was easier to replicate that, than to try something new. That same standard of measurement was used when building wagons, and rather than build something new or different, the wagon wheels were made to fit into the existing ruts, already on the trails heading into the American West. But it goes back even further! The first roads in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the chariots used often in war, guess what the measurement was? Yup!  4 feet, 8.5 inches! Why? Well, that measurement was based on the space needed to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses! Perhaps if someone had pushed back against the age-old adage and excuse, “but that is just the way it has always been” everything could have been different?  

Isaac Newton’s first law of motion states: Everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it. And I would offer that the church is no different. It is much easier to stay at rest than it is to move when force is applied! It is even harder to be the force of change pushing against the object at rest! But isn’t that what Jesus asks of us? 

But change is not easy!

The Rev. Dottie Escobedo-Frank, recently elected bishop for the United Methodist Western Jurisdiction, said, “Change, especially deep, paradigm shifts, is always hard to bear. Some will choose not to adapt. Period. But change will come anyway.”

Escobedo-Frank goes on to say, “This kind of movement, like all movements, will involve the work of revolutionaries. A church revolutionary is one who is willing to risk all that is known and treasured in order to further the gospel. Revolutionaries are willing to love those whom Jesus loved: the marginalized and ignored pockets of humanity.” In the book, “An Emergent Manifesto of Hope,” there is an essay entitled, “Our Report Card in the Year 2057” by Ken and Deborah Loyd, which states, “We are consciously tearing down the fortified walls of our church communities and spilling out into our neighborhoods to love and care for those less fortunate than us … We don’t reach down to our fellow human beings but across. We are committed to rise to the challenge simply because, in good conscience, we can do no less. We are, after all, the hope of the world.”

In the Gospel of Matthew (Common English Translation) Jesus says, “No one sews a piece of new, unshrunk cloth on old clothes because the patch tears away the cloth and makes a worse tear. No one pours new wine into old wineskins. If they did, the wineskins would burst, the wine would spill, and the wineskins would be ruined. Instead, people pour new wine into new wineskins so that both are kept safe.”

We cannot continue to try to salvage the old wineskins … they are simply worn out and will waste the new wine that desperately needs a place to be kept safe. This year, I implore the church to get rid of the old wineskins that are making real and lasting change, impossible. Instead let’s radically transform the church by allowing for new wineskins. Just think of all the new and different ways we could be the church in the world! It most certainly will not be easy, change never is…but change will come anyway, with or without the church. 

(Janita Krayniak is the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Powell.)