Urgency in Change

Looking at the readings from the pericopes for the last two Sundays of the church year and “pondering” components of change, the world “urgency” popped up.  If something is urgent enough, I’m more willing to make a change and not complain as much.  A few weeks ago I pulled into a parking spot at Lowe’s.  When I got out, I noticed a large nail in the tire of the pickup setting next to me.  I waited around until the owner came out and I showed him the nail.  He was very thankful that I had noticed it and went directly to the tire store to have it fixed (changed).  Making that change may very well have caused him to avoid some anxious time on the side of a highway.

After Jesus ascended into heaven, two angels appeared and announced to the disciples, “Why are you standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw Him go to heaven."  To them, that meant that His return would be sometime within their lifetime.  So, when they went out preaching and teaching, they did so with an urgency that the final judgment would be coming soon.  It was only later in their preaching that they thought, “Well, maybe this won’t happen just yet…maybe it will be sometime in the future.”  They literally lived the urgency of telling others.

It’s amazing to me that those things that can be put off, that don’t get done, are those things that are neither seen as important or urgent.  You tie those two things together and procrastination happens.

Change is directly affected by how urgent the matter is.  Comfort produces little action.  Apathy is an enemy of change.  Complacency is an enemy of change…a lack of urgency is an enemy of change.

All but two years since 1969 has the LCMS (a part of God’s earthly kingdom) been declining.  We write about it, we talk about it, and yet, little “real” action takes place…we get caught in just going along taking care of “church” business (budgets, potlucks, maintenance, etc.).

Research done on family businesses shows that it is very difficult to sustain business beyond the third or fourth generations…they lose their urgency when the business is moving along, seemingly maintaining itself.  Understanding the original purpose for the start up of the business is strained…making needed changes more difficult.  Complacency becomes a hindrance…what may have seemed urgent when the business started has produced comfort and little “something new.”

Could it be that our sense of urgency has been replaced by comfort and complacency?  Could it be that the “way of the world” is seen as “that’s just the way it is”?  What indeed has become our focus in our churches?  Is it getting our “own” way so that we can remain comfortable showing up on Sunday mornings and doing “our thing”?

Over the forty-four years of work in the church, I can’t begin to count the number of meetings I’ve been a part of either as the planner or leader of the meeting or a participant.  I can’t count the number of meetings where we have spent time talking about those things that are urgent but not really that important.

A few years ago, I adapted the “Time Management Grid” created by Steven Covey, to a “Ministry Management Grid” to use as a model for planning meetings, mission, and ministry.  Many of you are familiar with the concept.  I’ve placed it below.

Most congregations spend a majority of time in meetings and other activities, in the following quadrants (in this order):

Quadrant 1 – Firefighting

Quadrant 3 – Distraction

Quadrant 4 – Time Wasting

Very little time is spent in Quadrant 2 (Quality Time for Mission).  I’ve sat in many a meeting over the later years and put in the amount of meeting time spent in each Quadrant.  I’ve read many a bulletin and newsletter to find that most of our activities are in Quadrants other than Quadrant 2.

Could it be that we have become complacent about our mission?  Could it be that change is difficult because we don’t really feel the urgency?  Could it be that the mission field is still over the “big pond”?  Could it be that managing the ministry has become the focus?  Do I really believe that there will be those who will die today, that have crossed my life path, but don’t know Jesus as Savior?

It’s time to take “urgent” seriously.