The Spirit of God is Upon Me

They say that the Eastern Orthodox Church prides itself on having not substantively changed since the fourth and fifth centuries in which the great creeds were hammered out and doctrines laid fast line upon line.  When confronted with challenge, they appeal to the primitive faith.  To that I want to say, "And how's that working out for you?"  People change, society changes, culture changes, history changes, our own stories change, and yet we expect the faith to be delivered once to the saints and to stand the test of time.  But I think when we demands this, we confuse foundational truth with dogma, God Himself, with our understanding of God.   By their very nature some things must never change, can never change; but also by their very nature, some things must continuously change.

Now I am not a big fan of innovation, I do not wear the label of "enthusiast" very well.  And I am well aware of the opposite side of the spectrum within the church that wants to throw out everything that smacks of tradition and bring everything up to date with the contemporary.  I once likened the two extremes in this way.
The traditionalists are like petrified logs.  They have the appearance of life, they have the stuff of life etched into their form and shape, but they are, as we say, cast in concrete.  They will never change, but they do not live.  The enthusiasts are like inflated balloons that will soar upwards if you let them go, but they lack substance.  They are, as we say, a membrane stretched thin over a lot of hot air.  So how do we find the balance between our churches turning into relics under glass on the one hand, and a whirling dervish of change for the sake of change on the other hand?

Good question.  I wish I had a good answer.  But as I was thinking on this all I did have a picture form in my mind that comes from two scriptural passage.  The first is John 3:8, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."  And the second is Hebrews 6:19 "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain."  My feeling is that it is time to cast off into the deep for a catch, to raise the sail and let the wind of the Spirit drive us before Him.  And if, or when, we enter those waters where it is apparent that shoals are present or that the way is uncertain for a time, then drop anchor and hold fast in the sanctuary of God until the time comes to move on.  We must not become so set in our ways that we become an idol of stone rather than the temple of the living God, and we must not be so quick to throw out our history and tradition for the sake of relevance that we lose all sense of our mooring in the Kingdom.