Elements of Change
Change is the most difficult thing for people. It is frightening, it is risky, it is uncomfortable, it is unexplored and new territory, it requires enormous amount of faith. More often than not people like to follow existing patterns, trusted methods, very few of them thrive in pioneering, innovating and blazing a trail. These are the people to watch for in the initial stages in any kind of change initiative, the ones with the pioneering spirit will most probably be the early adapters and champions of change.
Spiritual change in a spiritual organization is possible only through a change in heart, a change that is inside out. Our heart is the root of all issues; Bible calls it as the well spring of life. Over the years of ministry the patterns and methods of doing things and successful strategies of the past tends to make us accustomed and comfortable to what we are doing, this is what Jesus called as a hardened heart, at one point he asked his disciples who had hardly been two and half years into ministry with him, 'why are your hearts so hardened, having eyes but unable to see, having ears but unable to hear'. To maintain status-quo we do not need any extra effort or energy or thinking. But to change the status-quo we need a lot of energy, prayer and waiting upon the Lord, thinking, planning and being committed to it.
We see some of the the biggest champions of change in the Old testament, the prophets of God. They were people who walked closely with the Lord, completely in tune to his voice and leading. Their whole life was revolving around the call to change, a change of heart, a change of perspective, a change of life style. The Israelite's were far away from God, steeped in idolatry, immorality and disobedience to God. The prophets were calling out to change, to repent, to return, but you see the people being stiff necked and stubborn, unwilling to change in spite of all the message and reminder from these prophets.
Even in ministry we can get into the same trap, years of following a pattern and doing things in the tried and tested way which resulted in some success in the past will make us calloused in our hearts and immune to change. We tend to argue and believe that we are doing okay, we are on track. The starting point for change is humility, acknowledging our pride, acknowledging our calloused heart before God and being completely broken and humble before Him. This requires a lot of patient waiting in God’s presence, looking at His face and seeing His greatness and acknowledging our complete and total unworthiness to do any thing for Him. It is an ‘undone moment’ like what Isaiah had before God who is seated high and mighty.
The obvious danger in driving change is looking at the necessity and urgency of it, we come up with knee jerk or stop gap arrangements. It is like plugging a leak with some glue instead of looking at the real cause and addressing it and the temporary solution might lead to a bigger leak later, so these kind of solutions might lead us to greater disasters if the root cause of the problem is not addressed. And almost always these patchwork or temporary arrangements are from our human understanding and limited knowledge. In the letters to the seven churches Jesus warns the church to remember from the height from which you have fallen, repent and return. To another church He says, you have lost your first love, you are neither hot nor cold. It is this lukewarmness that creeps in after years of ministry, a kind of familiarity which is leading to contempt, taking things for granted that is detrimental to growth and effectiveness. The more years one has been in the ministry the more the danger of being at risk. Just like a piece of rubber which looses it flexibility and elasticity over years of exposure, we are in the same kind of danger if we don’t constantly evaluate and guard our hearts and walk in close communion with the Lord.
How do we drive spiritual change in a spiritual movement?
1. The only way to drive change in a spiritual movement is on our knees. All pervasive fervent prayer and total dependence on the guidance of the Holy Spirit with complete brokenness and humility is the basic and most critical requirement for a person who wants to see change happen. We are not working on things and materials which are inanimate, changing that would be easy, but we need to remind ourselves that we are working with other brothers and sisters who are created in the image of God, who is purchased by the blood of the Lamb and who are called uniquely by God to serve Him. The fact is only God can change them.
2. The second element in change is the Word of God. Only God's word has the power to transform. It can renew our minds, it can rebuke and correct us and it convicts us. The word is living and active and we need to go back to it and hear and listen to His word and allow the word to work in our lives. A national transformation occurred in the reign of King Josiah when the word of God was read out. Our sole authority for change should be the word of God and not manuals and principles from management experts.
3. Another critical element of driving change is living the change you want to see. It is easy to preach about change and trying to implement it in others lives, but that will result in hollow and cosmetic changes not genuine change. People need to see the change in order for them to catch it and that takes a lot of humility and brokenness on the part of the leader to model it and make it as a way of life. Everybody likes change as long as it is for somebody else and does not affect their life. If I want to see change happen then I need to empathize with the change and feel the pinch in order to understand it.
4. A conducive environment for change needs to be intentionally created. We are talking about the hearts of people, and people change when there is encouragement, love, mutual support and prayer. People thrive in an environment where there is open communication, love and ongoing honest feedback which is multi-directional not just top down.
5. Change is possible only when the need for change and the urgency for it is clear to all. It needs to answer the question, why should I change? If people don’t see the need then they will not be motivated to make that journey.
6. People also need to clearly see the results of change. We need to answer the question what will happen if I change? Is it going to look better and exciting if I go through this painful, risky and long process? If the end picture is motivating and worth going through the process then people will be gladly willing to move.
7. The process of making the change should be clear to the recipients of change. There needs to be lot of engagement, communication and prayer which is ongoing, continuous and multi-pronged. Even if the reason for change and the destination of change is clear still everyone would like to know the road ahead clearly in order to get into the vehicle of change and make that journey.
8. Any change is a journey and we need to remind ourselves that we all are co-journers in this. Nobody including the leaders has arrived at the change destination, some of us might be a little ahead in the process but that doesn’t give us a “know all, done all” mentality. We are learning together and moving ahead together. Remember the change starts from one heart which is humble and broken before the Lord, completely in tune with the prodding of the Holy Spirit and willing to allow the change to start in him first.
Spiritual change in a spiritual organization is possible only through a change in heart, a change that is inside out. Our heart is the root of all issues; Bible calls it as the well spring of life. Over the years of ministry the patterns and methods of doing things and successful strategies of the past tends to make us accustomed and comfortable to what we are doing, this is what Jesus called as a hardened heart, at one point he asked his disciples who had hardly been two and half years into ministry with him, 'why are your hearts so hardened, having eyes but unable to see, having ears but unable to hear'. To maintain status-quo we do not need any extra effort or energy or thinking. But to change the status-quo we need a lot of energy, prayer and waiting upon the Lord, thinking, planning and being committed to it.
We see some of the the biggest champions of change in the Old testament, the prophets of God. They were people who walked closely with the Lord, completely in tune to his voice and leading. Their whole life was revolving around the call to change, a change of heart, a change of perspective, a change of life style. The Israelite's were far away from God, steeped in idolatry, immorality and disobedience to God. The prophets were calling out to change, to repent, to return, but you see the people being stiff necked and stubborn, unwilling to change in spite of all the message and reminder from these prophets.
Even in ministry we can get into the same trap, years of following a pattern and doing things in the tried and tested way which resulted in some success in the past will make us calloused in our hearts and immune to change. We tend to argue and believe that we are doing okay, we are on track. The starting point for change is humility, acknowledging our pride, acknowledging our calloused heart before God and being completely broken and humble before Him. This requires a lot of patient waiting in God’s presence, looking at His face and seeing His greatness and acknowledging our complete and total unworthiness to do any thing for Him. It is an ‘undone moment’ like what Isaiah had before God who is seated high and mighty.
The obvious danger in driving change is looking at the necessity and urgency of it, we come up with knee jerk or stop gap arrangements. It is like plugging a leak with some glue instead of looking at the real cause and addressing it and the temporary solution might lead to a bigger leak later, so these kind of solutions might lead us to greater disasters if the root cause of the problem is not addressed. And almost always these patchwork or temporary arrangements are from our human understanding and limited knowledge. In the letters to the seven churches Jesus warns the church to remember from the height from which you have fallen, repent and return. To another church He says, you have lost your first love, you are neither hot nor cold. It is this lukewarmness that creeps in after years of ministry, a kind of familiarity which is leading to contempt, taking things for granted that is detrimental to growth and effectiveness. The more years one has been in the ministry the more the danger of being at risk. Just like a piece of rubber which looses it flexibility and elasticity over years of exposure, we are in the same kind of danger if we don’t constantly evaluate and guard our hearts and walk in close communion with the Lord.
How do we drive spiritual change in a spiritual movement?
1. The only way to drive change in a spiritual movement is on our knees. All pervasive fervent prayer and total dependence on the guidance of the Holy Spirit with complete brokenness and humility is the basic and most critical requirement for a person who wants to see change happen. We are not working on things and materials which are inanimate, changing that would be easy, but we need to remind ourselves that we are working with other brothers and sisters who are created in the image of God, who is purchased by the blood of the Lamb and who are called uniquely by God to serve Him. The fact is only God can change them.
2. The second element in change is the Word of God. Only God's word has the power to transform. It can renew our minds, it can rebuke and correct us and it convicts us. The word is living and active and we need to go back to it and hear and listen to His word and allow the word to work in our lives. A national transformation occurred in the reign of King Josiah when the word of God was read out. Our sole authority for change should be the word of God and not manuals and principles from management experts.
3. Another critical element of driving change is living the change you want to see. It is easy to preach about change and trying to implement it in others lives, but that will result in hollow and cosmetic changes not genuine change. People need to see the change in order for them to catch it and that takes a lot of humility and brokenness on the part of the leader to model it and make it as a way of life. Everybody likes change as long as it is for somebody else and does not affect their life. If I want to see change happen then I need to empathize with the change and feel the pinch in order to understand it.
4. A conducive environment for change needs to be intentionally created. We are talking about the hearts of people, and people change when there is encouragement, love, mutual support and prayer. People thrive in an environment where there is open communication, love and ongoing honest feedback which is multi-directional not just top down.
5. Change is possible only when the need for change and the urgency for it is clear to all. It needs to answer the question, why should I change? If people don’t see the need then they will not be motivated to make that journey.
6. People also need to clearly see the results of change. We need to answer the question what will happen if I change? Is it going to look better and exciting if I go through this painful, risky and long process? If the end picture is motivating and worth going through the process then people will be gladly willing to move.
7. The process of making the change should be clear to the recipients of change. There needs to be lot of engagement, communication and prayer which is ongoing, continuous and multi-pronged. Even if the reason for change and the destination of change is clear still everyone would like to know the road ahead clearly in order to get into the vehicle of change and make that journey.
8. Any change is a journey and we need to remind ourselves that we all are co-journers in this. Nobody including the leaders has arrived at the change destination, some of us might be a little ahead in the process but that doesn’t give us a “know all, done all” mentality. We are learning together and moving ahead together. Remember the change starts from one heart which is humble and broken before the Lord, completely in tune with the prodding of the Holy Spirit and willing to allow the change to start in him first.
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