Over my years of pastoral ministry, I have wanted a symbol to convey that even though we face change (a dirty word) in our lives, that God is always steadfast and faithful. When we know and affirm God's unchangeable attributes of love, peace, graciousness, faithfulness, mercy, truth, etc., then the changes we face (both good and bad) aren't as big of a deal.
When things change, which is the nature of daily living, we often react with very emotional and knee jerk reactions out of fear because we tend to like it when things are consistent. Deep down, we know that life doesn't work that way. The church isn't meant to work that way. But change still catches us off guard and our first reaction is to resist.
That's why, it's easy to get upset over styles of worship, music, change of schedules, ministries, etc., because we operate out of a poor theology that the church should never change. Even the great Methodist circuit rider preacher, Peter Cartwright who I consider as one of my heroes in the faith, got it wrong when as a pioneer 18th century preacher, he said that the downfall of the church will be when congregations begin to have pews, choirs, and heaven forbid, those fancy pipe organs!
On one hand, Cartwright makes a good point that the church can become too comfortable. But in another way, he forgot that change is inevitable. New historical contexts and culture shifts lead to changes and adjustments.
But here's the key theological point in all of this. Even with fancy pipe organs, comfortable pews, and screens in the sanctuary, God's attributes have not changed! God is still loving, faithful, gracious, forgiving, merciful, etc.
In her book, Unbinding Your Heart, Martha Grace Reese offers a powerful symbol to convey this truth that in the midst of the changes in life and in our church, God remains steadfast. Here it is. It's simple. Jesus is the north star and the church is the moving ship.
Jesus as our north star is the fixed point that provides us with a holy constancy as the church (the ship) travels through the seas of change, adventure, and growth. This has so many implications for us as people of faith. When a different worship style is added, a new ministry begins, the Sunday prayer is in a different spot in the order of worship, a new song or hymn is introduced, the children get messy and leave a lot of glitter on the floor, and a new pastor comes to town, it's all OK. That's life. The church (the ship) continues to boldly sail in being God's faithful people.
And Jesus continues to be our North Star.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. - Hebrews 13:8
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