LEARN, UNLEARN, RELEARN

You up for what are inevitable changes? Check out this story. "A specific group of Bedouin sheepherders called the Tatars regularly traversed the landscape of Siberia around the sixteenth century. In order to survive, they followed the food supply of grass and available vegetation for their herds." 


"They had to be ready to strike camp as soon as their food source could no longer sustain their flocks, and they were ever on the hunt for desert water holes and fresh pastures. The Tatars were characterized as a docile people, mostly quiet and unassuming. On rare occasions, however, when they would get angry, a certain phrase they tossed to their opponent or antagonist summed it all up. Through pressed lips and red faces, these stern words were heard: “May you stay in one place the rest of your life!” The phrase seems tame at first glance, but when we picture the survival imperative placed on the Tatar’s herds and families, we understand the severe nature of this curse.

As churches, we tend to lean the other direction: We favor stability over change. Often our greatest unspoken goal is to arrive at a good place and stay put. We like the programs we’re already familiar with. If something worked last year, or the year before, or even ten years before that, we are tempted to use it again. One of the unspoken values of many churches is consistency, and consistency is often equated with keeping things the way they’ve always been.

But an irresistible church chooses to constantly learn and adapt. The church recognizes change as the currency of a constantly shifting society, and what worked yesterday to minister to that society may not always work today. An irresistible church does not change because God uses the agent of change for His good. God knows that once people stop learning new things, they stop growing. The human spirit thrives on learning about God, His will, others, and even itself.

The illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. That is our task as a church as well. In order to continue ministering to a changing society, we must continually adapt and change. Likewise, in order to be the people God wants us to be, we must continue to learn, unlearn, and relearn."