Change is difficult for most of us.  That applies to individuals as well as to communities.

At a communal level there are those who want things to change and nothing ever changes quickly enough.  There are also those who are uncomfortable with change and who prefer to maintain the status quo.  When both sides in a community dig their heels in the fireworks are sure to start. In the church we have lived with that tension for a long time.  Some want the church “to move on” and they have their own agendas as to where it ought to move on to.  Others feel that there’s nothing wrong with the way we’ve always done things so they resist change.  The challenge for leaders is to manage change so that it happens without division – and (more importantly) so that it happens in faithfulness to Biblical principles.

My concern in this article is not so much about changing a community like the church and the consequent struggles to take everyone along.  My concern is change at the individual level.  Here too change is difficult – just ask someone who has tried to quit smoking.  We’re far enough into the year to realise that many New-Year’s resolutions have already crashed.  We wanted to change and began the year with a firm resolve to do so, but already we have had to give up.

Change is difficult.  And yet change is mandatory for the Christian.  Change is not optional it is compulsory.  I’m talking about change for the better – or what the Bible calls ‘sanctification’.  We are called to grow in Christ-likeness.  God is busy with us changing us from one degree of glory to another (2Cor.3:18). 

Twice this past week I was talking to someone who was struggling with the acceptability of someone else’s behaviour and who was trying to bring about change in that other person.  I commented that you cannot change another person. 

This was a powerful lesson I learned early in my married life.  Like most people I could see a few issues in the life of my dearly beloved that I thought could do with changing. She had (of course) also noticed that there were some issues in my life that she felt could do with changing. That led to some tension so we decided to purchase and read a book entitled, “The art of understanding your mate”. The thesis of the book is that you cannot change your spouse. You cannot in fact change anybody. That’s a sobering thought. It’s particularly sobering for a person who is considering a relationship with someone knowing that there are some serious issues but who takes the approach: I can change him/her later!  Oh no can’t!

The reality is that people can only change themselves – and even that is difficult enough.  Sure, we can encourage others to change.  And we ought to do that.  We can pray for others to change.  And we ought to do that too.  We should even admonish behaviour that is less than Christian.  However we should also bear gently with the weaknesses of others.

One of the wonderful things about the gospel is that it is the great change agent in our lives.  It not only transforms us from the kingdom of darkness into God’s glorious kingdom of light but it also keeps that process of change going as we work at becoming more and more Christlike.

Change is difficult. But the good news is that Jesus is in the life-changing business.

John Westendorp