Is all this bad stuff really something good?

There is in fact a lot of tension in our churches. I know of 6 churches that have forcefully terminated pastors in the last 18 months. I hear of stories every week of struggle and tension. Why is it happenning? I think primarily becuase we are in the midst of a transitin of church life from the traditional american model to a more missional model that relates with impact to the world in which we now live.
Since most of our churches have their roots in the traditinal american church it is a tough time. It is clear that it is no longer a matter of if it is happening. The only question is in each setting how long? In most settings that I see it is probably true that this is the last generation for that church unless it leaves a footprint in the next generation.
This makes it tough on pastors who are caught trying to meet the needs of two very diverse sets of people. It is also tough on chruches because much is at play, emotions, family, traditions, theoology, it is all in flux.
So what do we do, fight it or go with the flow? I think that if we step back, it is not a bad thing but a good thing. I too have all my roots in a traditional american church, a church that is now no longer on mission for God, irrelavant to the culture and time. So if it passes away and some other church model comes along that is on mission and is transformational to the community is that not a good thing? I think so. So I suspect we ought to put our energies on seeing our selves as transitionaries. We are the Samuels of our day. We have assumed that God cannot reach todays generation without us and that all is lost if our church model fades away. Guess what, He is reaching them and He is raising up disciples who understand the difference between church membership and disciple of Jesus.