God & His Word Is Unchanging, Though The Delivery Does
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘<God said through Malachi,> “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.’ (Malachi 3:6); ‘<Jesus said to His Apostles,> “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”’ (Matthew 10:16)
Change is inevitable, even in church. I am certain when the first church choir began to sing ‘Amazing Grace’ or ‘How Great Thou Art’, someone in the congregation said, ‘Why are they singing these fancy new songs? They should stick to Handel’s Messiah!’. The same could be said when the Bible went from the Latin Vulgate to the Gutenberg German translation, then to the English King James Version. There are still churches and pastors today that believe any translation other than the ‘older English’ Kings James Version (like the New International Version I use, or even the New King James Version using modern English and grammar) is ‘heresy’.
We should be thankful, though, for some changes. The lighting inside churches went from dim smoke-emitting candles to bright electric lighting, and with air-conditioning and bathrooms with running water makes our modern churches a place people want to come to. Younger people are attracted to more contemporary songs, and no one needs to strain to see or hear the pastor thanks to our audio and visual systems, with sound amplification and big screens to view. If one is feeling under the weather, the services are streamed so one can stay home without giving others their illness while not having guilt about missing out. Schedules, events, past sermons, prayer requests, and Biblical insights (like this blog) can be presented to the masses for worldwide dissemination. Our advancements in technology greatly allows such great improvements in our outreach to bring the Gospel to others.
We can change the presentation or the communication of how we provide the Word of God and the Gospel of Christ, as the church has done so to bring attention to God’s message to a greater number of people, and to attract more people to Christ. It is very innovating how some pastors, like Carl Kirby and his Reasons for Hope, use modern techniques in short clips, to provide God’s Word to young people who may not otherwise be attracted to such a message.
The key is changing the presentation of the Word to make it more palatable, presentable and understandable to a greater number of people without changing the Word itself. How we communicate has changed over the years, from the writing of letters, to the telegraph, radio, TV, phone and now e-mails, texts and videos. The Gospel message, though, has never changed, nor should it ever change. As God told Malachi, He never changes. He is the same as He was yesterday, is today, and will be tomorrow. The Word is static, and is unchanging as He is. As Jesus tells the Apostles, we need to be shrewd as snakes, adapting our communications of the Gospel to the differing audiences to gain the widest dissemination; while being innocent like doves, staying True and Faithful in His Word, and obeying all His precepts without prejudice.
Unfortunately, those who try to change the Word to accommodate today’s society have this backwards. One cannot be faithful to the world and adapt a ‘gospel’ message to gain acceptance. The Word is unchanging; if it changed it ceases to be the Word but becomes worthless ‘pablum’ for digestion. One can use new ways to gain attraction to the message but the Word must stay intact as is. Embrace change and be a ‘change agent’! Never be afraid to change how the Gospel is communicated to others who need to hear the Lord’s message, but never change the message itself.
