August 4

Day 143: Left Behind in an Analog World

I admit to being a creature of habit. I like a particular order to my day. I like having everything in its place, and a place for everything.

I like an organized desk, and an organized (if not totally spotless) truck. While I am not internally averse to change, I don't like change that results in no perceived benefit. I want to maintain control over what gets changed, and what does not.

With Covid, my routines have changed, as have yours. Were you to watch me over the course of the first few hours of any workday, you would see (now adapted) the same pattern, likely executed within a self-prescribed time frame.

I have become very predictable, especially to my wife. Now she's home to see it.

It takes very little to throw me off my game. An early morning Zoom call (to accommodate east coasters who do not want to work into their lunch hour) will always result in my devoting an extended time period trying to recalibrate myself by recalibrating my schedule. Only for that one day. If I can help it.

While some of us are exhilarated with change simply for change sake (which I admit to in part), the majority of the population will resist change, until it's forced upon them.

None of us embrace the pain of change, unless the pain of staying put is forecasted to be more painful. We all seek what will result in the most comfort, if comfort is synonymous with benefit.

The problem is, we're each sometimes the last person to know when it's time for any of us to change something.

I read this morning about how Motorola was the market leader in hand-held communications. My own cell phone history includes several Motorola devices. Problem for them was, they were the market leader in the age of analog. They were slow to jump on the digital bandwagon. Why change what ain't broke, right?

Nokia, the Finnish company (remember them?) was one of the first to go digital. They saw how the industry was moving, before the industry itself saw the new frontier.

After some years of marketplace dominance, they then saw another new frontier...which convinced them to get out of the market altogether. They knew their time had come and gone. They sold their digital cell phone division to Microsoft. Who then proceeded to run their acquisition straight into the ground.

In this, we see how Nokia did not fear change. Change was (and I assume is) an essential element of their business plan.

Churches are facing a new frontier, one that none of us at present can see. The churches who are struggling most are not the little guys like us; it's the mega churches. See the mega churches as the kings of analog. Regard the little churches as nimble, if not fully adapted to and moving toward a new digital world (if you follow my analogy.)

For our own church, things have changed, and will continue to change. We are facing a number of unknowns. Much of which will not necessarily be our choice, but change will happen to us, if not with us.

And all of us as individuals need to change. Address our fears, our present comforts, and push beyond those. Maturity in Christ requires, even demands change.

Primarily a change in our priorities.

Using Covid as an excuse to isolate ourselves from the people of God, or continuing in dysfunctional behaviors, hoping the outcome will somehow be different than it's been, is inevitably a dead end. We must be willing to change.

Or get left behind in an analog world, while everyone else goes digital.

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau