I am sure most of us by now have heard the popular definition of “insanity.” People are insane when they expect different results while doing things the same way as before. In other words, if I want different results, while not changing my means, methods, policies, etc., I am insane.
We could use this axiom in any facet of life. For example, if I continue with the same Christian disciplines (Bible reading, praying, fasting, church attendance, small group attendance, accountability partner) in my life, and I haven’t grown much spiritually, but now all of sudden I expect different results with no changes to my Christian lifestyle, I am in fact “crazy.”
We could use this axiom in any facet of life. For example, if I continue with the same Christian disciplines (Bible reading, praying, fasting, church attendance, small group attendance, accountability partner) in my life, and I haven’t grown much spiritually, but now all of sudden I expect different results with no changes to my Christian lifestyle, I am in fact “crazy.”
Another example, a church, let's say, that hasn’t grown over the past five years. This church continues with the same methodology that has contributed to its lack of growth over the past five years -- same leaders, same music, same small groups, same building, same outreach -- how can we expect growth to happen by not changing the way we did “business as usual?” We must be “insane.”
Maybe we could generate a new saying to replace the one we have always heard, “We've always done it this way”, or, "We tried that in the past and it didn’t work, so why try it again?”. The new saying could be, "We won’t change a bit, but our outcomes surely will.”
On a scale of 1-10, how crazy are you? If you are like me, insanity seems to fill certain parts of your life and not others. How can a person become more sane in the future? What in our lives should we change so that we can look more like Jesus? What in our churches should we change so that God might once again be able to work among us?
There is one thing for certain we cannot do if we are going to be on track to overcome acedia. We simply cannot keep doing the same things in our lives and expect different results.
There is one thing for certain we cannot do if we are going to be on track to overcome acedia. We simply cannot keep doing the same things in our lives and expect different results.
I challenge you this month to take a look at your life and the life of your church. What is one thing you can change and maybe God will grant you some more positive results?
