From Complacency to Change

It's been a while, I know...and, when it hasn't been a while, posts have been sporadic, at best. Which is one indication of my summer growth, I'm afraid.



See, sometimes in the summers I grow complacent. I mean, it's not like I'm on campus surrounded by other people who are just as crazy as I am--indeed, some are even crazier, believe it or not. In the summertime, I'm at home where it's comfortable and where I've known everyone for pretty much my entire life. There's not much challenge to living at home, and I therefore forget that there should be a challenge at all.



But, if we're not challenged, then we're not changed. Shoot, we're not even motivated to change. And our lives are all the time in need of changing! If you don't need changing, then you're perfect and you're delusional. Congratulations. For the rest of us, if something in our lives doesn't change every so often, we become way too comfortable with where we are, and the desire to change wears off. If it's not broke, don't fix it, right? That's when we get stuck in a dangerous place called complacency. It's something like the walking dead, because you're missing out on so much that God wants to do in your life but you don't even realize it. You're missing the parade as it passes by because you didn't change what needed changing based on a challenge in or on your life.



Perhaps you find yourself in this complacent state; you don't see a need for change, because your life, though dull and/or meaningless, is at least easy. I reckon the best cure for such a disease is to find a challenge. Now, don't rush off just yet, and let me clarify: for real change, not just any challenge will do. I suggest that you search through the Bible for the sorts of challenges that will bring extended, if not lasting, results. It is rich with challenges for the Christian life. Again, I want to plug Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship, because it, besides the Bible, is the most challenging book I have read--because of the Bible. The same man wrote another book which concerns the Christian community called Life Together. Also, a Brit named J. I. Packer has written a book called Knowing God which deals with God's nature and our relationship to Him; and, finally, a smart man named C. S. Lewis wrote several books about Christianity. I've read Mere Christianity and Surprised by Joy and found both to be thought-provoking and, yes, challenging. Finally, Pastor Steven Furtick has written about change and challenge a great deal on his blog, which is always a good read. I mention all of these authors and titles, in fact, because, for one, they use the Scriptures as their basis for arguement and explanation; and, secondly, I have been challenged by them at some point or another--again, simply because of the Bible. I offer them to you as suggestions for a starting point in your journey from complacency to changed life.

Revolutionary

So, here's a revolutionary idea: what if Christians gave up their rights instead of fighting so hard to keep them?

I still have a lot to learn about (and from!) the Bible, but I have made one observation that I think holds true for the whole thing: while God talks a lot about giving up stuff (time, possessions, family, home, and so on) for the sake of one's faith, He doesn't spend much time telling us to keep anything--except faith. And, trust me, this realization staggers me as much as anyone. After all, could God really expect me to live as a doormat?

Before I answer my own question, let me clarify some stuff: God's original plan was a perfect world and sinless people. Unfortunately, sin made that plan impossible, and we now inhabit an imperfect world populated by sinful people--including you and me. But our loving God did not wish to allow us to all perish and suffer the punishment for our wrongdoings, so He sent His Son to the earth to take our place--and, as a perfect person, to serve as an example to His disciples, an added bonus. So, ultimately, we Christians, as Christ's disciples in our times, should also follow His example. This example is, of course, laid out in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the first four books of the New Testament in the Bible), which I encourage you to investigate on your own. We all learn best by our own discovery.

Please do correct me if you discover that I'm wrong, but it seems that the example of Jesus points towards a life fully committed to glorifying and obeying God, no matter what the cost to Himself. He gave up His earthly rights to dignity, a fair trial, and life in order to accomplish His Father's will. That's what surrender looks like: giving up what we like to call even our most basic rights in order that God be glorified--even your "right" to public recognition when you do so.

A smart man named Dietrich Bonhoeffer thought of things like this long before I did and gave a detailed explanation in a book called The Cost of Discipleship. Pick it up, if you get a chance, and enjoy!