What does it take to change?

We don’t usually eat out, but had more reason in July with family meals related to our daughter’s wedding. I was surprised to see how full restaurants were! Eating out is so expensive! Yet, so many people are still eating out. If people really were financially hurting, I would think that they’d change their behavior.

What does it take to change? You may have heard the saying “Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change” (attributed to Tony Robbins). Despite rising prices due to tariffs, supply chain shortages, economic uncertainty, and the US-Iran war, many Americans have not significantly changed their behavior. Gas prices above $4/gallon seems to be beginning to produce enough pain in some people to change.

What makes me sad as a Christian is that it often takes personal pain in the pocketbook before people change. If someone else is in pain because of higher prices, it seems like it’s business as usual. This “only if it affects me” attitude is directly opposite of God’s purpose for humanity: to love our neighbor as ourselves. The “Good” Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) didn’t look at the man laying beaten by robbers and think, “Oh, poor guy. I’m glad that’s not me.” He thought, “that’s my neighbor. I’m going to care and do something to help.” Why isn’t it enough to see someone else in pain? Why do we need to feel pain ourselves to change our behavior?

The reason we often don’t change because of other people’s pain is what Christians call “Sin,” or as Martin Luther said, “we are curved in on ourselves.” Our perception is bent around us so that we see only what affects us directly. It’s a spiritual problem that becomes a social, relational, economic, and physical problem. It’s like looking into a funhouse mirror that warps our reflection so that we fill the entire mirror and can’t really see anyone around us.

It is this warped, self-centered mirror that Jesus came to break. He had to die to break it, the Son of God had to bear the pain before we can change. He is alive now, and when we live in Him and He in us, Jesus gives us the power to change.

We don’t need to wait to be in pain personally to change. When we see our behavior needs to change to help other people, we can trust the living Christ is our strength.

Many of the changes we will need to make over the coming years will involve changing what we consume, including eating out. What pain does our taste for luxury inflict on the farm laborers, the factory workers, and truck drivers of the world? Will we restrain our tastes to reduce the pain of our neighbor? Will we eat locally produced food to better serve our neighbors? We've already shown we are willing to pay more to eat out!

Beyond food, our demand for faster and faster technology, including Artificial Intelligence, is using more and more electricity and water. If we change now to accept slower speeds, we can minimize the pain to the poorest and most vulnerable who struggle to pay the electric bill and keep the water on. Do you feel your phone is slow? Resist the urge to upgrade until the phone really stops working. Are you tempted to use ChatGPT to write a letter? Every prompt uses electricity and water (Google used about 6.4 billion gallons of water in 2023). Keep your brain fit and writing skills sharp by writing the letter yourself. As we elect leaders, are we choosing them based on how they will help the most vulnerable in society or on how they will help our personal pocketbooks?

Join me in prayer that the Holy Spirit will give us strength to change before the pain grows greater for our vulnerable neighbors. Pray we’ll change without needing to experience the pain ourselves. Pray any change we make will be centered in Jesus and God’s life-giving work through Him.

Struggling with you to change,

Pastor Peter