How does real change happen? How do the fundamentals of a situation transform from one state of being to another state of being? Politically, the question might look like this: “how did America go from being a predominantly moderate-conservative/Republican nation, to being a moderate-liberal/Democrat nation? More importantly for me, how do we go back?
The emotional ebb & flow that assaulted my psyche started November 5. Sometimes by passionate excitement I’ve been compelled to push for restoration change in America, other times by passionate concern and frustration I’ve been compelled to the same end. One way or the other, I don’t like where we are or where we’re going, and I believe it’s up to us to bring real change.
That brings up a much larger, more significant, and more personal question.
We don’t all agree on all things because beliefs aren’t purely intellectual, and beliefs make all the difference in everything. If belief were purely intellectual, we would all eventually be on the same side of the abortion issue. If belief were purely intellectual, we would come to a common understanding of God, country, family, freedom, and morality. However, this most recent election indicates that we are far from unified in our beliefs, and our beliefs matter.
For instance, evolution isn’t simply a grade school theory that we can or can’t believe in. If we believe everything evolved from the primordial ooze, completely apart from intelligent design, then there is no Great Intelligence to indicate things like right & wrong. Whoever is the most evolved – read, he who has the biggest guns or most power – is right, and has no moral obligation to do anything other than wield their power. It’s evolutionary.
So how do we go about the process of changing other people’s beliefs or minds? Personally, It has to begin at home. If I hope to change the world spiritually or politically, I should probably begin the change process in myself first. It’s difficult, frustrating, and discouraging to admit that, in many ways, I feel I’m in much the same place I was 6 months ago, a year ago, 10 years ago. But I believe there’s hope. Here’s how I’m starting with myself…
- Own the need- If I believe I’m all good all the time, I won’t even approach my need for change. If I believe I don’t have anger issues, I’ll never make progress toward change. Likewise, if our culture doesn’t recognize our issues, we won’t address them. If we’re going to be change agents in our culture, we must help people understand the the implications of their beliefs, not just tell them that our beliefs are better.
- Distrust our Feelings – Feelings are like the caboose on a train: nice, but not functionally necessary. Just because I feel angry, sad, lonely, or wounded doesn’t mean that I have to respond from that place and in fact, if I DO respond from that place, pain is probably soon to follow. In our culture, we must 1) acknowledge the public and culture mood in which we live (racial fear, financial tension, deep anger over the war) and 2) firmly and consistently help people see that feeling is a poor foundation for belief. It starts with asking questions, and always pushing for the better answer.
- Baby Steps - Change is slow business. I don’t even understand how deeply the beliefs that drive my actions are rooted in me (i.e. what beliefs allow some to cheat on their taxes, and others to not?). The path to true and lasting change is sure to be fraught with many and various failures and missteps. That’s why #1 & #2 are so important. If at any point I forget that I need change, I’ll quit when it gets tough or when my feelings tell me it’s not worth it. Likewise, if I wake up and say, “I will never be angry at my children again,” I won’t make it a day. However, if I say, “When they leave their toys on the floor, I get angry. I’m not willing to hurt my kids, so I’m going to walk out of the room rather than blow up,” that’s a baby step that I can take. Small victories make all the difference. Culturally speaking, you don’t turn Blue steps to Red, or Pagans into Methodists over night. It begins by painting a better picture, and taking one step a day toward that.
I believe we can make a change. If I didn’t, I don’t think I could get out of bed. My foundation of belief is that I believe I can be different. We can’t just change the political landscape in America. We must change the hearts of the people. That’s a truly mind-boggling undertaking. Take heart, changing lives is eternal business. It takes a long time, but it lasts forever. What else are you going to give you life to?
