I read an article last week that got me thinking. “I meet a lot of people who are so tired of change,” the author began.
He went on to explain that Jesus calls us to follow him. And following Jesus involves a lot of lifestyle changes.
But following Jesus is not the same as changing our lives. Initially it may feel like that. It’s not. We’re confusing growth with change,
Often people are resistant to growth because they assume it just means more change… Change is shifting from one thing to another. It’s the idea that if we just change this or that, life will be different. And it is different, but it isn’t necessarily better. We change outfits, or diets, or even churches expecting a different outcome. The subtle, embedded promise in change is that life will get better.
But often what happens when we institute change on our own is that we end up with something different but no better. We’ve changed the scenery, the information, the process, or even the paradigm, but our lives aren’t really different. Once the aroma of new wears off, we realize that it’s actually more of the same with different lipstick.
Is he right? Is it true that…
the call to follow Jesus offers us something much different than simply change. It offers us growth. And at first this growth looks like change but it is radically different.”
I think so. 2 Corinthians 3:18 comes to mind. We are being transformed (metamorphoo) within. Romans 12:2 contrasts this idea of inward transformation with simple outward change.
Perhaps, in the day and age when people are tired of constant change, this difference between change and inward transformation needs to be emphasized more. And the dynamics that make such growth happen -> fellowship with the Living God through Jesus.
