More About Change Agents

We were in a church once where the leadership thought any “change agent” was a subversive character out to destroy the integrity of the church. After one of the leaders had taught a class along that line, repeating the term “change agent” several times almost with a sneer, I approached him for a discussion. Here is the gist of our conversation:

Jesus said we are to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5). Both are change agents: salt both as a preservative and as a flavor enhancer, light to illuminate a topic or a situation. He also said go tell everyone the good news (Mark 16:15), presumably to convince them to follow him.

And we all know of churches where we wish something were a little different. Paul for example was constantly writing to churches encouraging them to correct their errors. Take the Corinthian letters as an example (e.g. 1:10). And Jesus, speaking through John in the Revelation, had corrections for five of the seven churches He directed letters to in the beginning of the book. See the letter to the church at Ephesus for example (2:4-5).

But perhaps the most important aspect of being a change agent is our constant duty to encourage each other to show love and do good works (Hebrews 10:24-25). My hope for all of us is that we will not just “go along to get along” but will be change agents for good both in the church and out.