Typically, when I go to the fitness center to exercise in the evening, it’s jammed packed with people. I was running on the treadmill the other evening and noticed an unusually large crowd, I assume because many people were kicking their New Year resolutions into high gear. Fitness center management, it seemed, were leading more than the usual amount of tours of prospective new members. The problem of course is that the same people, New Year after New Year, come into the fitness center during the first week of January only to give up in frustration a few weeks (possibly a few months) later.

Every single one of us knows we need to improve our lives. Year after year the leading best sellers are self-help and personal improvement. The reason all of us feel that way is actually a theological reason. We are made in the image of God and given the fall, know deep within that we have gravely fallen short of the glory of God.[1] The Law of God stands over us as a constant reminder of our desperate need for “improvement”. Additionally some of us face very serious problems in our day to day existences. Substance addiction (including food), sexual addiction (pornography for instance), spousal abuse (emotional and physical), child abuse (emotional and physical), manipulation of people in our lives, the list goes on ad nauseam. No matter what we do, we can’t seem to change these sinful tendencies.

It gets worse. Not only do we know something is wrong, we (Christians are at the head of this list) try to change ourselves and others by demanding change. The church often engages in the worst forms of moralism and believes that if we offer enough moral prescriptions, give people enough “boxes to check”, arm-twist, cajole and demand folks change, then change will occur. Here is the reality: we (and others) won’t change. Why? The issue is not recognizing the need to change, the issue is having the power to change.

Matt 15:17-20 “”Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.'”

The reason external change does not occur is because the heart[2] remains unchanged. The question naturally is, what can bring true and lasting change to our hearts and lives? The answer is quite simple: the gospel.

Most of us reading this article are Christians, which of course means that we have received the payment Christ made on the cross for our sin, and believe that Christ indeed rose from the grave giving us new life[3]. The question then is how does the Christian access power on a daily basis to live a life of obedience[4] to Christ? The answer again is simple: the “ordinary means of grace” provided through the gospel. God has not only ordained the message (the gospel, the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ), he has ordained the means. The “ordinary means of grace” are straight forward: meeting with God through daily prayer and reading of Scripture, attending Bible study and Sunday worship, regular edifying Christian fellowship, sharing the faith, receiving the sacraments. The key part of these things is “believing in our hearts”. Here is the problem: we don’t truly believe that God brings change through these means.

A good example of this latent unbelief is seen in the life of Naaman, the great commander that went to see Elisha to heal his leprosy:

2 Kings 5:9-14 “So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” 11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. 13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.”

Naaman’s initial rejection of Elisha’s means for his healing shines a light on our own unbelief. This section is quite a fascinating example of our sinfulness (unbelief). Elisha gives Naaman something simple to do: wash (seven times) in the Jordan. Naaman at first rejects the means because he ostensibly believes[5] it ridiculously simple and beneath his station. Naaman’s attitude echoes what the apostle Paul would later say to the Corinthian church:

1 Cor 1:17-18 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Another important aspect from the 2 Kings text is what Naaman’s servant says: “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? (v 13). This is an important piece of biblical psychology. We are constantly attracted to complicated, convoluted non-sense to bring about change in our lives. Wasn’t that the point of Namaan’s servant? Isn’t that the reason psycho-therapeutic non-sense threatens to replace straightforward gospel truths in our churches? It is both tragic and amazing to see Christians reject straightforward gospel truths (think: ordinary means of grace) in favor on nonsensical therapeutic solutions. Christ, have mercy on his church.

As noted above, the key aspect is ‘believing in our hearts.” Once the heart changes, the external (behavior) will follow. Focusing on externals (which is what we generally do) only leads to frustration, anger and failure. Christ, of course, said it perfectly: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”[6] It is only gospel truth, when the heart receives it that brings about sanctification (conformity into the moral image of Christ).

There is one last thing that needs to be said which I find is probably the most difficult (but liberating) for people: we don’t control the process. It is difficult because it is God who Sovereignly brings about the necessary changes (sanctification) as we respond to His grace through Jesus Christ. It is liberating for the same reason: we don’t control the process, God does it as we respond to Him.

Let’s do one thing in 2010 and that is get comfortable with the fact that we can’t change ourselves or anyone else for that matter. What we can do is respond to God’s grace and share that grace with others in the hope that they will respond. Paul summarized this well in Phil 2:12-13: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence — continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

Now that is “change you can really believe in” (pun intended!).
_____________________
Bill Mueller

[1] Rom 3:23.

[2] The biblical idea of heart does not refer to simply emotions but the seat and core of our being: mind, emotions and will.

[3] Rom 10:9-10

[4] Rom 1:5.

[5] Naaman “believed” that the Jordan washing was absurd: in other words, he did not “believe in his heart” what Elisha was telling him to do.

[6] John 17:17