Change is Purposeful

Elliot Sands is the Executive Director of Live Faith First.  Live Faith First produces the Groundswell video and podcast series.  The organization’s mission is to be a leading voice of change, addressing division and building unity within our churches and society.  Elliot is also a co-founder of CirrusMD, which gives patients on-demand access to Physicians in less than 60 seconds.
 
Elliot was having a conversation with an older couple and he wanted to see how they would respond to a question.  He asked them if they ever planned to move.  Elliot knew this couple was getting ready to move because somebody had driven by their house and seen a for sale sign out in front of their house.  But they hadn’t mentioned it to anybody, so he was checking to see how long it would take them to notify their family.  Their immediate response was “we’re not ever planning to move.”  He was shocked and amazed that they had just lied.  He was thinking-you’re all grown up, what does it matter if you move?  You can do whatever you want.  And yet they lied.
 
That day he realized, you don’t change by accident.  That couple had always lied, that wasn’t a new thing, it was a habit that formed and they never bothered to change it.  We don’t magically just change.  We don’t turn 25 and all of a sudden we’re not grumpy anymore.  We don’t turn 30 and go hey look, I stopped being angry. 
 
In our polarized world, we won’t magically become un-polarized.  Any place that you find division: ethnic, socio-economic, generational, political those divides will not disappear magically or accidentally
 
What can you do to purposefully break those divides? 
 

1.  Cross the divides.

 
Initiate a conversation with somebody across the divide- somebody younger or older than you, somebody with a different skin tone, somebody from a different political party, somebody from different socio-economics.  What divide do you want to cross?  When you open your eyes to the divide, an opportunity will come about for you to cross that divide.
 

1.  Learn

 
In that conversation be the learner.  Ask good questions, find out more, seek understanding.  No teaching allowed, just learn.
 

1.  Put Jesus at the center

 
When Jesus is your primary identity, then your other very important identifiers become a little less weighty-they’re secondary.  So if the person says something that you might normally take offense at, remember this isn’t about you it’s about Jesus-He’s at the center.  So those comments don't have to carry the weight they may normally.
 

1.  Repeat

 
Do it again.  Sit with that person again, or maybe look for another person.  Remember-this isn’t a magic one-time event, it’s a process of moving in the right direction.
 
Taking the first step toward change can be difficult, but the more you pursue change the easier it gets.  One day you’ll look back and it will just be natural.  Take the first step, be purposeful, and you’ll find in time YOU CHANGED!!!