A Change of Kind

Re Growing Pains, March
I have a deep appreciation for the work that J.P. Smit has done in our synod and our congregation. His call to faithfulness has helped our congregation change in very positive ways.
I wonder, however, if we are too focused on building the Titanic rather than dreaming of the airplane. The Titanic and its ilk were simply changes of degree over older boats. They went faster, farther and carried more but they were still just boats going from point A to point B. Airplanes are an entirely new way of going from A to B. Besides birds, there were no clear precedents for the airplane. They were a change of kind, a much harder change than a change of degree. It is not quite hyperbole to say that airplanes transformed transportation not just changed it.
We follow a God of transformation. Should we settle for change? Should we settle for simply improving what has worked in the past or should we as a denomination encourage dreamers in our midst to launch into new ways of doing church? Smit challenges us to change but maybe he settles for change because many of us are scared of transformation. We simply want a slightly improved version of ourselves, not the radical new life promised by God through Jesus. I for one am not willing to settle for the Titanic. I want to fly. I hope others are with me.