Changes

I was reading the blog Enter the Rainbow this evening. Andy, a United Methodist pastor, wrote about two different kinds of change -- innovation and reformation. Innovation is the creation of something new; reformation is the recreation of something that already exists.


It's a good post, worth reading. Just click on that link above.

I hadn't thought of change in that light before, but I do think he's correct. And why is it that in our churches we take the stance that we should do one OR the other, and not both?

Think about the New Testament. Jesus took the Passover meal and recreated it for us, into a communion meal. He didn't say the expected words or do the expected actions.

Think about the money changes -- he didn't reform that system, he sent it packing!

Think about rich young ruler -- give away your money and follow me. That's not reformation, that's asking the man to give up everything and start a new life.

It appears to me that there are times for both options. Why do we sometimes insist that they compete -- that one is right and one is wrong? What innovative ways can we think to do both?