I think its in our nature to avoid any change that disrupts our comfort and makes us uneasy.

I had a call a couple of weeks back from my dad asking if I knew how to uninstall Windows 7 and wind it back to Windows XP. He had just bought a new computer and the new operating system was unfamiliar and alien, so it seemed smarter to simply go back to what was familiar.

I have taken my newly acquired Mac away with me on this holiday, not to work, but simply to learn. I bought a mac because I wanted to learn a new way of computing and I haven’t yet come across anyone who has made the change and regretted it. For a few days I felt like my dad did.

After 4 years on a Sony Vaio running windows XP I was in a place where I knew just what I needed to do to get the result I wanted. I’m still unfamiliar with the Mac and at that ‘not yet convinced’ point in my experience. If you offered me a brand new Vaio with all the good specs I’d be tempted.

But I am convinced that the best is yet to come in my Mac experience. I believe that there is a better way if I am willing to feel clumsy and disoriented for a while. So I will keep going.

I can’t help drawing the parallel to my experiences over the last 10 years with churches. There may be a better way – there may be a way to express communal life that is healthier and richer than what we know, but few will pursue it. And that’s simply because it doesn’t come naturally and easily.

We have become so accustomed to one ‘Operating System’ that we can’t easily figure out how to work with a different one. It may even be that a whole new OS eliminates bugs and glitches and makes the whole thing much more efficient and effective, but we are familiar with ‘windows’ so we’d rather have the devil we know than take a risk on something new.

It seems there are few willing to jump ship and re-imagine because it does bring with it a degree of discomfort, but what if we are settling for less than we should? Wouldn’t you want to at least give it a really good shake?

The god’s of comfort and security have a strong grip so it can be daunting to even begin the journey. As for me and my house… its a no brainer