Wednesday, February 08, 2006
How To Change
Gladmanly (a buddy that's milblogger Dadmanly out of uniform and in his religious suit) has responded, quite well I might add, to my post on Idols and Idolatry. He makes a couple of great points.
Gladmanly's other great point is that change, even personal change, is a group effort.
Related Tags: change, sanctification, accountability, group, church, Christianity
I want to make one other observation about change. A CORRECT or appropriate identification of what a person REALLY needs to change is not trivial or properly dismissed with a joke along the lines of ?Now what could I possibly need to change, I am so near perfect?? (As an aside, I think any time we say to ourselves, ?Ordinarily I don?t like negative [critical] teaching, but?? that should be a warning sign. Attacking anything or other alternative approaches is a weaker place to start than why a different approach is RIGHT.This is part of what I was driving at in my post On Confrontation yesterday. Sometimes we are in a bad place because someone else put us there and sometimes it is that someone else that needs to change so we can change -- either that or we have to extricate ourselves. This abuse of power is particularly prevalent in church and church leadership. Rather than deal with a problem in the church or the church leadership, they tell the person pointing to the problem that they have the problem. It takes a lot of courage to tell those in such authority that they are wrong. Which is why there is a lot of unscurpulous types taking advantage of that out in churches these days.
In my experience, one reason (among many) some Christians from dysfunctional families have not been able to "change" is because they identify the wrong things to change, and the wrong things as sins. In an abusive or dysfunctional family, the pressure is overwhelmingly that the abused "get with the program" and stop making waves. Putting up with the abuse and putting it out of mind is the fix. "I am the problem" can be very destructive and counter-effective. I can think of several current circumstances that people remain in bondage by thinking it's all them, and they "conform" to what they think is right. Hitting someone over the head with the Bible may seem simple, but it can backfire (and represent the garbage bag candidate of a Legalistic approach by the way).
Gladmanly's other great point is that change, even personal change, is a group effort.
For me, I know I have to watch myself both ways. Because I still rebel at times, and need more sanctification. And I know I need to grow in tolerance for my brothers and sisters in Christ, because they struggle as I do too. And joining each other in that struggle is what God has called us to do.And that means it's a two-way street. I cannot help but think that personal change approached in this manner will be good for both the individual and the church as the mutual accountability takes hold.
Related Tags: change, sanctification, accountability, group, church, Christianity
