flexibilty: are you open to change?

Again, I find myself challenged by the words of Chuck Swindoll...

"Let’s be careful to identify the right opponent. It isn’t tradition; it’s traditionalism.

The right kind of traditions gives us deep roots—a solid network of reliable truth in a day when everything seems up for grabs. Among such traditions is believing in the authority of Holy Scripture, knowing and loving God, bowing to the lordship of Jesus Christ, committing ourselves to others, filling the role of a servant-leaders, and becoming a person of genuine encouragement.

By traditionalism, I have in mind mainly an attitude that resists change, adaptation, or alteration. It is blindly and forcefully holding fast to a custom or behavior. It is being suspicious of the new, the up-to-date, the different. It is finding one’s security, even identity, in the familiar and therefore opposing whatever threatens that. It is being more concerned about keeping rigid, human-made rules than being flexible, open to creativity and innovation.

By now, you’ve guessed where I stand. Clearly, my position is on the side of openness, allowing room for the untried, the unpredictable, the unexpected—all the while holding fast to the truth."

As I hold to my convictions, I must remain flexible in my perspective. If I don't, I miss the chance to be involved in the new things God is doing..."For I am about to do something new. I have already begun! Do you not see it?"  (Isaiah 43:19)

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