WCS Faculty and Staff | Leading Change Through Changing Times

It seems fitting that John would ask the token red-bearded pastor in Miami to share a devotional on St. Patrick’s Day.

When John initially invited me to share on navigating change, my mind immediately went to change management lessons and leadership insights from various books that we’ve probably all read throughout the years.

As I began to study and piece this devotional together, I began to clearly discern the Lord tell me, don’t go down that path.

Ok, I thought, so then I began to study biblical stories about change and transition, but again, I clearly discerned the Lord tell me, not that path either.

I started to feel anxious, and for a few days, I prayed Lord, help me. What do you want me to share?

If not a leadership principle or a bible story, then I thought, wha then, Lord?

And after a few days, I clearly sensed the Lord draw me to a passage of scripture that certainly addresses change, but encompasses deeper challenges that are often associated with change.

Change often creates power differentials.

Change typically requires either a give or a take.

Change usually necessitates some kind of transition.

Change might mean adjusting expectations.

Sometimes, change even demands an entirely new direction in either an individual’s or organization’s vision.

Some changes arise joy and gratitude, while other changes produce grief.

Change is complex.

Change isn’t just one feeling, action, or behavior.

It is a constant.

And I am convinced that whether positive or negative, change ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS reveals a person’s character.

Check me on this.

This is my working thesis, and the more I test it, the more I observe it proven.

Change reveals character.

Always.

Which led me to one of the best worst passages of Scripture, one that certainly speaks to change, but really addresses the deeper issues of the heart that change reveals.

Listen as I read Romans 5:1-5, NLT:

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”

First, hear this good news: in Christ Jesus, your life has been made right with God. You have been justified, just if your sin never happened. Your Heavenly Father sees you clothed in Christ, forgiven, washed clean, and redeemed.

Some of you simply need to hear and be reminded that you have a Father who loves you. He sees you, he knows you, and despite whatever despite your past or what others might think about you, he calls you his very own.

Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

Your faith provides the undeserved privilege of eternal life, life to life forever with your God. Faith also generates a kind of confidence and joy that lifts higher than the challenges of this world.

Have you ever met someone who just doesn’t ever seem to feel down?

I think about my great grandfather, who I had the privilege of knowing through my high school years.

He lived with a quiet confidence that never lowered to the petty issues of life.

He stayed consistent, disciplined, and faithful.

Author of the Message, Eugene Peterson, says this kind of life results from a long obedience in the same direction.

Based on what the Apostle Paul write so far about our life in Christ:

You have been made right with God.

You have peace with God.

You have undeserved privilege

You have given confidence and joy.

So that - upon this foundation…

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials,

What problem and trial does not involve some kind of change?!?

for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

What this passages seeks to establish is the Christ-centered transformation that happens in us when we allow God’s Spirit to meet us in the struggle!

When change happens and problems and trials arise and you experience all the different tensions that I mentioned a moment ago, including so many more, there are any number of ways to respond that would be acceptable in our culture’s eyes, but the only one - the narrow road that Jesus calls us to walk - is to rejoice because...

You have been made right with God.

You have peace with God.

You have undeserved privilege

You have given confidence and joy.

So invite God’s Spirit to develop gritty, resilient endurance in you.

I recently watched Facing Nolan on Netflix about my favorite baseball player of all-time, Nolan Ryan. I have more of his baseball cards than any other player.

Nolan Ryan pitched his 7th no-hitter game when he was 44.

How did he do it? One pitch at a time.

Many of you won’t see the fruit of your endurance through trials for many years to come, if ever.

But the Lord invites you to endure because endurance produces character, and right now, character is worth more than any riches this city could afford.

Your number one value as a school is Christ-centered character.

Change reveals character. Endurance can get you to the finish line, but character determines whether or not you finish well.

———

Character strengthens the confident hope of our salvation, which will not disappoint.

Christ’s salvation work in you won’t ever let you down or put you to shame.

Rather, it is guiding light when the path becomes rough and almost too difficult to walk. Keep pressing, keep leading, and stay committed to Christ and one another.

Several years ago, my wife and I decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary with adventure, instead of the usual dinner and flowers and blah, blah, blah

We rented paddle boards and toured the mangrove canopies in the keys.

It was majestic.

All throughout, as I observed how the mangrove roots intertwined into one another and learned how they protected and cleansed and provided safe habitat for countless species, I thought, “Wow God! Mangroves show us an image of the church, the living body of Christ, working together to overcome challenges by rejoicing… enduring… forming character… and strengthening the confident hope of our salvation.

Friends, as you close out the final months of the school year, may I encourage you to renew your commitment to God and one another today by linking arms to form a mighty mangrove over the students and families with whom God has called you to serve?

They need your protection. They need your care. They need you to help them cleanse out the sin of our culture. And they need your safe habitat in which to grow.

When the issues of change arise for you, be a mangrove. Stand firm. Weather the storm.

The battle isn’t against flesh and blood. The battle isn’t against anyone in this room. It is against the evil forces in our world who want nothing more than to divide you against each other to get to these students and tear apart these families.

When trials and problems arise:

You are called and committed to rejoice.

You are called and committed to endure.

You are called and committed to develop the strength of your character.

And you are called and committed to strengthen the confident hope of your salvation.

With the Spirit of the living God alive in you, you have all that you need to lead.

As we close in prayer, I want to invite you to stand and link arms with the person beside you, form a mangrove together…

PRAY

As we close with one final song, the altar is open. If you would like to come forward for prayer, I am here to pray. If you would like to come forward with someone to pray, then please do so. If you need make right with a fellow colleague and seek forgiveness, then take a step and live in freedom today…