Adapting to change can be difficult, says Rev Neil Urquhart

Computers in your eye glass, broadband faster than a cheetah, mobile phones with TV, camera, diary, torch and coffee maker built in, car gadgets, robot servants, etc.

Ever felt left behind or wanted the world to stop and let you off? Adapting to change can be difficult, just ask the church. But change we must. 

Asked 50 years ago who would dominate the world of watch making in the 21st century, the top answer was Switzerland.

In 1968 the Swiss made 65 per cent of all watches in the world and took 90 per cent of profits. By 1980, however, they had laid off thousands of workers and their market share had fallen to 10 per cent.

What went wrong? They’d refused to consider a new development - the Quartz movement. Because it had no traditional mainspring or knob it was rejected. It was too big a shift in thought for them. To them a quartz watch wasn’t a watch at all.

So Seiko and others accepted change and became market leaders. A wonderful past was undermined by an unwillingness to radically rethink how things were done. The Swiss couldn’t see that past accomplishment is no guarantee of future success. 

The lessons are obvious for the church, and anyone interested in changing society for the better, or indeed in selling their product.

I believe the good news of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ, is the greatest news of all time, but the means of helping others to recognize and embrace it will change. Otherwise it will lie like hidden treasure under the dust of tradition and "the way we’ve always done it".

If you'd told me 15 years ago that in 2024 I’d be regularly ‘blogging and vlogging’ I’d have pulled you up for being rude. 

But don’t choose change for change’s sake.

There's a tale of an enthusiastic salesman who told Neil the Postman all the wonderful things the car that Neil had an eye on could do.

“And what does this button do?” asked Neil.

“That’s cruise control, sir.”

“And what problem is cruise control designed to solve?” asked Neil mischievously.

“Well sir, it means you don’t have to keep your foot on the accelerator to go at a consistent speed.”

“But I’ve never had a problem keeping my foot on the accelerator," Neil replied. "And these buttons here, what do they do?”

“Yes sir, they wind the windows up and down.”

“Oh yes”, said Postman with a gleam in his eye. “Exactly what problem was this technology designed to solve?”

“Well sir, it winds the windows up and down for you.”

“But I’ve never had a problem winding windows up and down by hand.”

To the relief of the salesman, Postman bought the car.

The purpose of much technology is simply to make more money by supposedly making life easier. Much modern technology is great! But don’t run out and buy the latest ‘this or that’ without considering the repercussions.

Take the telly, for example. I’ve a friend who walked into a house where five people were watching the same program in five different rooms. The practice of having a TV in almost every room undermines community and family life, sucking people into the privacy of their room or house, away from having to relate to others.

Change without thought and values can leave us with bigger problems than we ever had before. 

Fortunately, there is one critical truth that’ll never change - and that is that ‘God Loves You!’

It’s a life-changing and world-changing truth when it's allowed to soak and sink in.