A close friend of mine over the past six months has said several times, “It might feel like things are unraveling, but at least we know who holds the string.” The first time I heard it I didn’t really get what he was trying to say. I understood he was bringing comfort to churches and leaders who feel like their ministries, churches, and whole worlds were falling apart around them. So on some level I understood, but I didn’t really get it until I thought about it in another way.
My wife is an excellent crafter. She loves to use cool tools to make things. Her greatest gift lies in knitting. By working with yarn and needles she is able to create just about anything she sets her mind toward. However, sometimes she really likes a particular yarn for its color or texture but has already made it into a scarf and used it as such for some time, then one day decides, “I think I want that to be socks!” What is she to do? She simply finds the end, unravels the existing completed project that has served its purpose and begins to turn it into something completely new.
North American churches are in a cross roads of sorts. We are in the midst of a significant shift. The world is unraveling. Churches have served a great purpose and function in a particular model for the past fifty to seventy-five years, now that world is unraveling. The world of mega churches, attractional worship events, large conferences, denominationalism, CEO pastors, rule makers, boundary setters, and institutional loyalty is becoming less influential. But here is the hope, much like the clay and the yarn, the same material is going to be used for a new thing. The church will go on, God’s people will still be the church, but we will just look different.
We will be reworked into another vessel that seems good to Him.
We had a good run as scarves, now God is making us into something new.
It will be painful and slow. We were really good at being scarves. All our programs, buildings, and structures are designed to lead scarf people. But it is time to allow this world to unravel and become something new. I don’t know what God is making us into just yet. I am not sure anyone does and if they claim to, you might consider tuning them out. Because crossroads rarely reveal the road ahead as much as options for a new destinations. We are in a place of adaptive challenges that require all new skills for all new issues. The key will be to love God and love others. We will need to have strong theological centers founded on scripture and soft edges that welcome all sorts of new people and ideas.
The world we were familiar with might be unraveling, but at least we know who holds the string. I believe God just might be the one pulling on the string to cause the unraveling so he can make something new with the same yarn.
Another (somewhat longer) version of this post can be found at “Shaped by the Story“.
by Greg Mamula
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