Make a Change in Yourself First
As the presentation was drawing to a close, one of the pastors in the room raised his hand to said,
“I hear what you are saying, but my leaders just don’t seem to get it. We talk about the great commission. We talk about loving our neighbors. We worry about fewer kids and people in church and yet, anytime someone proposes a new idea, the response is either ‘We tried that a few years ago and it failed.’ or ‘We’ve never done it that way before.’ Tell me, Dr. Callahan, how do I get them to embrace change?”
The leader of the event, Dr. Kennon Callahan, paused for a moment and then he said,
“If you want to make a change in your congregation, feel free to make two changes in yourself first.”
While Dr. Callahan’s answer was not what the pastor expected, the concept is elegantly simple. Before you ask others to make change, invest time in going through the process of change yourself.
As we seek to grow deeper in relationship with one another, the place to start is not with the other person, but with yourself. Part of the reason that the entire first section of Renew 145 focuses on growing deeper in your personal relationship with God is because it is much easier to ask someone to join you in making a change than to tell someone that they need to make a change.
Reflection by Pastor John Wertz, Jr.
Questions for Reflection:
- What practice, experience, or learning from the first section of Renew 145 made a positive impact on you?
- Remind yourself of a time in your life when making a change created a positive outcome.