You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 22:37-40).
In this post we’re going to begin our discussion of biblical change. What does it mean to change? What does change look like? To put the question another way, “What is the goal of biblical change?” Of course, we all know what the word change means. The dictionary defines change as “[to] make or become different.” So, we want to see something different, we want to be different in our lives. But what should be different, and how do we change? These are the questions of this post.
The Goal of Change
When we look at the passage at the top of this post, we can clearly see our goal as believers. We are to love God with everything we are, and love people. In becoming like Christ, we love others. We can say, then, that the goal of biblical change is to help us move toward God in loving trust, dependence and service, and toward others in loving, sacrificial service. By implication, anything that stands in the way of that goal is to be resisted.
Defining Biblical Change
If we are to become like Christ, then we must seek change—the kind of change that will move us toward God and others in love. I suggest there are three statements that we can use to define and frame what it means to change n a biblical sense. When we understand and apply these ideas, we are on the journey to change and growth.
Many people talk of change, and indeed make changes to their life. We change jobs, schools, college majors, houses, spouses, hairstyles, and a host of other things. We seek change because we feel that something is not right, is out of place, or is missing. Similar to the check engine light on the dashboard of a car, we have a sensor in our soul that goes off. And so we try to figure out what is wrong and what needs to be changed. For many people the “change” is simply changing our circumstances or behavior.
However, if we pursue a goal of simply eliminating “bad” behavior (however that phrase is defined in a particular Christian community), we will see only outer behavior modifications based on some standards external to us. A group of people tried that about 2,000 years ago.
The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were experts in this sort of outward change. The adapted their behavior to fit the demands of the Law (at least as they saw them, which they cleverly interpreted to benefit themselves). Jesus, though, uttered strong words against this kind of “change:”
“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20).
“You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. . . . For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:25-28).
Now, Jesus was speaking about and to the religious experts of the day. If anyone knew the Law, they did. They knew the words but kept their obedience on the surface. Jesus essentially said to them, “That’s not enough. Righteousness that is only outward is not righteousness at all.” So, our first foundation for change is this:
Biblical change must start from the inside, with attitudes of the heart.
Any change that does not start from attitudes of the heart puts us in the same boat as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.
When we look back at the passage at the top of this post, we are reminded again that the Greatest Commandments are to love God and others. These commandments are relational in nature. Those who attempt to live as “lone ranger” Christians, are not taking these commandments and the implications seriously. Our second foundation for change, then, is this:
Biblical change is change that moves a person toward God and other people in love.
If love is the goal, then any change, to be called ‘biblical change,’ must move us toward that goal. By implication, anything that stands in the way of moving toward God in loving trust, dependence, and service and toward others in loving service and involvement is to be resisted and forsaken. So, our third foundation for biblical change becomes:
Biblical change involves exposing and repenting of thoughts and attitudes that promote self-protection over loving involvement.
If we understand biblical change as moving toward God and others in loving involvement, it follows that anything in us that prevents that is sinful. It’s entirely possible to have nice, socially acceptable behavior that subtly violates the command to love. This is particularly true if the behavior is designed to protect ourselves from criticism, rejection, or other emotional pain.
As we’ll discover on this journey of growth, the kind of change that the Bible commands can be difficult. The flesh is very deceptive, making us think we are being “good Christians,” when in fact we are simply trying to protect ourselves or get what we want. We must ask the Spirit to “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24). As we do that, we find ourselves closer to the goal of love.
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