We all want to change for the better, and who better to do that job than ourselves. But are we as adept at self-improvement as we think? Of course not. Our problem with changing ourselves is the problem of ourselves. Perhaps the solution is that we need to somehow change the part of us that stops us from changing. All of this highlights the problem doesn’t it? We think we have the tools to make the necessary adjustments but there is a certain kind of difficulty to performing open-heart surgery on yourself, especially if you’re already dead.
When it comes to the transformation of our lives we need to fix our eyes beyond ourselves and move our minds on from the idea that we can fix ourselves. We are not independent self-starters but utterly dependent creatures. Yet when it comes to moral transformation this never seems to occur to us. When it comes to fixing something we’ve got to use the right tools in the right order. Certainly not the wrong tools, and not even the right tools in the wrong order.
Tim Chester puts it this way, “If you’re frustrated at your inability to change, then your first step is to give up – to give up on yourself. Repent of your self-reliance and self-confidence. Your second step is to rejoice in God’s grace: his grace to forgive and his grace to transform.” p.129
That’s to say that we can’t start with ourselves. Rather, we must start with the gospel. How often do we try and do the job relying on our own steam only to find our resources are woefully inadequate. Chester puts it like so, “…Change takes place in our lives as we turn to ‘see’ the glory of God in Jesus. We ‘see’ the glory of Christ as we ‘hear’ the gospel of Christ. Moral effort, fear of judgement and sets of rules can’t bring lasting change. But amazing things happen when we ‘turn to the Lord.’” p.23
This is possibly one of the most counterintuitive ideas when it comes to moral transformation. After all, we think we’re the ones doing the changing. But who is changing what? If we think we’re changing ourselves then we are confronted with the problem that we often don’t change ourselves. Or if we do, it’s often not to the degree with which we hoped (or even in the way we hoped!). We’re not the ones doing the changing. Rather, we are the ones being changed first and foremost. To pick up a metaphor we used earlier, the gospel is the right tool and it’s the tool that we need to use first.
Yet the gospel is not necessarily something that we ‘use’. The work of the gospel is applied to our lives as we simply believe it. Now again we come up against this grating feeling within ourselves. And that feeling is our discomfort with being dependent, totally dependent on God. At least that’s how I feel. I probably feel that way for a variety of reasons, all of which are terrible; I’ve got pride, I want to be responsible for the good in my life, battling my sense of inadequacy, dependence seems like weakness… The list can go on. As you can see, all of that is at work in my heart as I seek to be dependent on God when it comes to moral transformation. But over time through prayer and repentance the Lord changes me to realize my dependence on him.
Another way in which we are dependent is that we don’t exist in a vacuum. Each member of Christ is part of Christ’s body, the church. And whether we like it or not, the church is an integral part to our growth and our change. I bet that we cringe at the idea. No doubt. But I’d say that is the case because we often think the problem is everyone else and not ourselves! How amazing we are! I tell you that we need the church. We need each other. Indeed we are dependent on each other because we are blind to our own sin. Just as I look out at my brothers and sisters and see their faults, I often don’t think very long on the fact that they see very clearly mine. And so it is that through the church calling me to repent and change (either generally or in regards to specifics), I am moved by the Spirit to do so. This is because God has given the church as a means for the church to change. Chester puts it like this, “The Christian community is the best context for change because it’s the context God has given. The church is a better place for change than a therapy group, the counsellor’s office or a retreat center. We grasp the love of Christ ‘together with all the saints’ (Eph 3:18). Christ gives gifts to the church so that we can grow together (Eph 4:7-13).” p.167
The Lord has equipped the church with the gospel, with his Spirit and with each other. These are the means by which the Lord works and the order in which he works. We would all do well to take ourselves from the front of that equation and instead to be dependent on God and each other. An uncomfortable idea. But given time, perhaps we would be convinced of its goodness as we see the fruit that this produces.
Chester, T. (2008) You can change: God’s transforming power for our sinful behaviour & negative emotions. Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press.
Bigvai and Shiphrah 