Excuse Me, But That's My Seat!

I think it is safe to say generally people are resistant to change and some are downright opposed to it. 
Many years ago I asked a family what brought them to the church I was pastoring.  They looked at laughed and  told me of their first experience at the church.  The husband told me that he and his family were looking for a local church and  after much thought and prayer that  he and his family finally decided to "try out" our small church in rural Wisconsin.  On the Sunday they decided to visit the husband, wife and their two children came to the small white church. They were greeted kindly by a few members and proceeded to sit down in a random pew.  A few moments before the service started a woman came up to him and said, "Excuse me, but you are sitting in my seat."  The family was taken aback but they got up and moved to another pew.  Surprisingly they decided to come back the following Sunday and try it out again and they made sure to not sit in the pew they chose the previous week.  I was mortified!  I breathed a breathe of fresh air when I found out this all happened before I came to be the Pastor.  I then thanked the family for being good sports and continuing to attend the church  

When I heard this story I thought to myself, what would ever posses someone to ever do something so rude as to what the woman did?  The answer... Change.  She didn't ant to change her seat.  The woman was more concerned with sitting in "her seat" than she was with this new family who was visiting.  She plain refused to change.
 
Why do you think people resist change?
 
Why people generally resist change

1. Possessive – eople think just because they have seniority (attended church or have been Christians longer) they hold the power to keep things normal. 
2. Trust Issues - They may not trust the person or people instituting change.
3. Fear of Failure – They are afraid the change will cause failure.
4. Unclear Vision – People will not grasp it if they don’t own it.  Why should we change?
5. The Hard Work It Entails – Let's be real for a moment... Change takes a lot of work and most people don't want to do the work it entails
6. People don’t like change

 
Why it is generally more difficult to implement healthy change in churches  

1. Loud voices - Often the louder voices get their way.  The loud voice tends to stir up resistance.  
2. A sense of entitlement - People who have been at a church for a long time may have an attitude of (but probably will never say out loud), "I will outlive the pastor’s stay so I will make it difficult for him or her" " or "I have been here my whole life so nothing happens without my approval".
   
3. People who go to small  churches (especially) like stability and for things to stay the same… That is why they go there.
4. Change is costly and some churches just don’t have the resources or if they do they don’t want to use it.

 
How to Proceeded Before Implementing change

1. Be Prayerful – Before we do anything in ministry it must be bathed in prayer. 
2. Be Sure it is from God – Change for the sake of change will not succeed.  You must be sure the change you are implementing is from God.
3. Be In Communication – Communicate with people during the change process.  If people don't know what is happening then they will not support it.
4. Be open – The change that happens may not be the change you thought.
5. Be Prepared – There will be resistance and kickback.   If this is a God ordained change then, you need to be prepared to fight for it.