What are the seven deadliest words in the whole history of the Christian church? Not the Seven Deadly Sins, mind you, I'm asking about words. Which seven words have been the most destructive to Christian faith, and have set the church back most consistently over the years? What are those seven words? They are: "We've never done it that way before."

That single sentence has shot down more new ideas and murdered more enthusiasm in cold blood than any other words ever spoken: "No, that's a terrible idea and we can't possibly do it. Why? Because we've never done it that way before!"

We say things like that so often because we find it hard to deal with change. Many of us would like to live in Shangri-La, that mythical place in James Hilton's novel (Lost Horizon) where nothing changed in hundreds…