Change Vs. Growth

I meet a lot of people who are so tired of change.  I get that.

Following Jesus is a journey.  It means stepping out of oppression into some form and engaging a more wholistic life.  And initially that feels like change.  But often what I see happen is that people are resistant to growth because they assume it just means more change. They confuse growth with change.

Change is shifting from one thing to another.  It’s the idea that if we just change this or that, life will be different.  And it is different, but it isn’t necessarily better.  We change outfits, or diets, or even churches expecting a different outcome.  The subtle, embedded promise in change is that life will get better.

But often what happens when we institute change on our own, we end up with something different but no better.  We’ve changed the scenery, the information, the process, or even the paradigm, but our lives aren’t really different.  Once the aroma of new wears off, we realize that it’s actually more of the same with different lipstick.

And what often happens is that we learn to assume change is just more of the same.  So we eventually resist it because we’ve been there, done that.  We’re tired of trying…and failing at change. And so when we stumble upon the footsteps of Jesus, we’re so tried of change that we miss the possibility that is before us.

The call to follow Jesus offers us something much different than simply change.  It offers us growth.  And at first this growth looks like change but it is radically different.  We didn’t institute it.  We just surrendered to it.  We yielded to the work of God in our lives and watched it happen, which at first doesn’t make sense.  How can it be this simple.  We’re supposed to earn it, aren’t we?

Change is shifting stuff on the outside.  Growth is shifting stuff on the inside.  It’s becoming more of what we are already designed to be.  And that looks like Jesus. Change requires our own energies.  Growth requires the work of Holy Spirit moving and changing us from the inside.

In many ways growth requires actually doing less than change.  Change requires a lot of activity.  Growth requires very little activity. It only requires the act of trust.  Doing less then is actually doing more.  And the cool part is that we get to be the space where growth happens.  We get to participate in something wildly good.

If you are interested in change that leads to growth, we’d like to invite you to consider following Jesus. Contact us today to get a free digital copy of our leadership manual.

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Jonathan Brink is the Managing Director of Thrive Ministries. He is all about change that leads to growth.