Pastor Joshua Finley is the Lead Pastor at Elim Gospel Church in Lima, NY. – a thriving church of about 800 located in the middle of (almost) nowhere. I had the great privilege of serving with him at the church for several years before making my move to Elim Fellowship in 2011. Josh is an outstanding communicator & leader, and certainly understands a thing or two about change!
“When you are through changing you are through!” –Bruce Barton
It’s a lot easier to embrace change when you’re the one initiating it.- Change without vision is chaos.
- Change is a lot easier to understand when it’s shared through stories.
- Many times the successful changes also produce the most criticism.
- It’s almost impossible to change a change that previously worked.
- Test-driving or experimenting with a change is a lot easier than fully committing to the unknown.
- Change is more likely to take hold when it’s followed by an immediate win.
- When you think you’ve communicated enough about change, you need to communicate more
- Slow change is rarely positive change.
- Organizations that don’t change die.
- If everyone recognizes the need for change, you’re obviously not the leader.
Change is a healthy necessity in every area of our lives. Marriages, friendships, businesses, churches, governments, even TV sitcoms, all require a steady diet of change in order to remain or become healthy.
Though few people would disagree with that statement, ALL of us resist change on some level. There is a reason for this. Meaningful change comes with a very real price tag.
- There is no growth without change.
- There is no change without loss.
- There is no loss without grief.
- There is no grief without pain.
- Change always involves some kind of pain.
“The place between where you are and where you want to be is a painful decision you are either willing or unwilling to endure.” –Samuel Chand
“There is no such thing as a great victory at bargain prices.” –Gen. Eisenhower
“Not all hurt is harmful. Much of it is beneficial and necessary.” –Dr. Henry Cloud
My prayer is that you and I will make the painful choices necessary to lead wisely and courageously into the future God has planned for each of us.
- Where are you currently needing and leading change?
- What painful decision have you put off in the past 30 days that keeps looping around to face you again