Spanish 
Part 3 of 3 of "Culture Shift" from the Spring 2015 VISION Newsletter
We often hear or raise some variation of these questions: Why do you want the church to change? Does that mean we were wrong in the past? I thought that God is perfect and unchangeable? Think about the rich young man. He wanted to follow Jesus and have eternal life, and he seemed to be doing everything right in following all of the commandments. Yet, when Jesus asked him to sell his possessions and give to the poor, he could not do it and that was the thing that barred him from heavenly treasures. The rich young man still had some changing to do.
Let’s start with God. He is perfect and He is unchangeable. He created the perfect plan to deal with our imperfection. His Son won the victory over sin and death and offers us eternal life through His church. His Gospel proclaims this truth to all mankind. He is the perfect part of His church as described in our Catechism.
But now it becomes complicated. He placed His church into the hands of human beings, and as our Catechism also explains, we are the imperfect part of His church. But God wanted it that way. We struggle with our imperfection every day and continually work to adjust ourselves to the eternal truth of the Gospel and the urgings of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, change within the church should not be surprising, it is a requirement. For over 2,000 years the imperfect church has drifted from the Gospel and returned again, and it will continue to do so until the Lord returns. Despite this, in faith we cling to His church as the path to our salvation AND we strive to align ourselves to the Gospel as described in our Vision statement.
Let’s conclude with an example from the early Christian church. Please read the story of Apostle Peter and Cornelius in the 10th chapter of Acts in its entirety. It is very entertaining reading and highly relevant today. When you have read it (no short cuts), please think about these observations:
• The first church retained Old Testament cultural beliefs that limited the Gospel.
• Christ’s teachings on inclusion were clear from the beginning, but still misunderstood.
• God intervened and clarified His intent to Peter in an unmistakable fashion.
• The apostle had to help the church come back to the teachings of Jesus Christ; and it didn’t happen easily or immediately.
• Cultural change is not new or unexpected; it is an ongoing task and a fundamental responsibility of the Apostle Ministry to the church.