Character Renovation Part 1
From: Convergence Teaching by CJ on Jan 11 2007
Character Renovation I
We examined New Year's resolutions, and as we were calling them out, Corrie put them on the board. After about a dozen, he labelled the two columns. One was Behaviour, and the other Values. They were all under the Behavior column.
We were then told they will NOT work. We always try to change our behaviours, but ignore changing our character where these behaviours stem from. In order to change our behaviours, we must change our character first!
If we keep trying to change our behaviour, in the end we will always be trying to explain the difference between who we are and what we have done. We say "I'm not the KIND of person that DOES THAT", when we've done something we don't like. The TRUTH is, you're exactly the kind of person that does that. If you get angry, it's because your the kind of person that gets angry. If you withhold love and forgiveness, its because your the kind of person that is hateful and unforgiving.
Your behavior doesn't determine your values, it reveals them. Or: you are what you do.
You can't avoid who you are. Ask a few people, who are you really?
There are three things we need to get over as we apply this information to our lives.
1. Most of us do not know who we really are.
2. If we do know who we are, how do we change the parts of us that are not Christ-like.
3. If we do know who we are, some of us will realize that we prefer to be anti Christ-like. What then? Repent! You' re in rebellion and salvation requires it!
How do we know who we really are?
Luke 11:33-36
33"No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light."
Time for a little self-diagnosis...
Do you feel unfocused?
Sense a difference between personal and professional goals?
Grow tired of dealing with difficult or negative people in your life?
Desire more meanigful relationships with people?
Feel like your always adapting to life's changing situations?
Are you becoming apathethic, frustated and unproductive?
These are the early symptoms that there is a growing difference between who you are and who you say you are.
To help discover a more real idea of who you are, here is a model that we can all use.
A quick rundown...
This visual model divides our character into 4 parts.
1. OPEN AREA, or who we are in public. This part of us is known to ourselves and known to others.
2. BLIND AREA, These blindspots are parts of us that others know about we don't, yet.
3. HIDDEN AREA, or private space. This is the area that we keep hidden from others and sometimes think we keep hidden from God...
4. UNKNOWN, These are areas of our lives that we dont know, and that others don't either.
The Goal of all of this, is to make (as in a action verb) our public area as big as possible.
There are two ways we can achieve this.
CONFESSION AND DISCLOSURE
This means admitting more things to the people around us. This will move the horizontal line downwards, increasing our public space. It is hard to do, but once we know what we need to do, hey, that's two thirds of the battle.
FEEDBACK
Sometimes we just need to ask the people around us, who am I really, where do you think I'm fooling myself? As people tell us about ourselves, a) we will be surprised and most people will throw in a compliment or two, b) some things that we think we have kept private will prove not to be. and c) we will move the vertical line on the model towards the right, thus enlarging our public area.
Self-Awareness Develops only in Community. Or: you can't know who you are in isolation.
This leads us to a giant question. If we know there are parts of our character that are not Christ-like how do we change them?
Galations 5:16-26
16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Character Renovation I
We examined New Year's resolutions, and as we were calling them out, Corrie put them on the board. After about a dozen, he labelled the two columns. One was Behaviour, and the other Values. They were all under the Behavior column.
We were then told they will NOT work. We always try to change our behaviours, but ignore changing our character where these behaviours stem from. In order to change our behaviours, we must change our character first!
If we keep trying to change our behaviour, in the end we will always be trying to explain the difference between who we are and what we have done. We say "I'm not the KIND of person that DOES THAT", when we've done something we don't like. The TRUTH is, you're exactly the kind of person that does that. If you get angry, it's because your the kind of person that gets angry. If you withhold love and forgiveness, its because your the kind of person that is hateful and unforgiving.
Your behavior doesn't determine your values, it reveals them. Or: you are what you do.
You can't avoid who you are. Ask a few people, who are you really?
There are three things we need to get over as we apply this information to our lives.
1. Most of us do not know who we really are.
2. If we do know who we are, how do we change the parts of us that are not Christ-like.
3. If we do know who we are, some of us will realize that we prefer to be anti Christ-like. What then? Repent! You' re in rebellion and salvation requires it!
How do we know who we really are?
Luke 11:33-36
33
Time for a little self-diagnosis...
Do you feel unfocused?
Sense a difference between personal and professional goals?
Grow tired of dealing with difficult or negative people in your life?
Desire more meanigful relationships with people?
Feel like your always adapting to life's changing situations?
Are you becoming apathethic, frustated and unproductive?
These are the early symptoms that there is a growing difference between who you are and who you say you are.
To help discover a more real idea of who you are, here is a model that we can all use.
A quick rundown...
This visual model divides our character into 4 parts.
1. OPEN AREA, or who we are in public. This part of us is known to ourselves and known to others.
2. BLIND AREA, These blindspots are parts of us that others know about we don't, yet.
3. HIDDEN AREA, or private space. This is the area that we keep hidden from others and sometimes think we keep hidden from God...
4. UNKNOWN, These are areas of our lives that we dont know, and that others don't either.
The Goal of all of this, is to make (as in a action verb) our public area as big as possible.
There are two ways we can achieve this.
CONFESSION AND DISCLOSURE
This means admitting more things to the people around us. This will move the horizontal line downwards, increasing our public space. It is hard to do, but once we know what we need to do, hey, that's two thirds of the battle.
FEEDBACK
Sometimes we just need to ask the people around us, who am I really, where do you think I'm fooling myself? As people tell us about ourselves, a) we will be surprised and most people will throw in a compliment or two, b) some things that we think we have kept private will prove not to be. and c) we will move the vertical line on the model towards the right, thus enlarging our public area.
Self-Awareness Develops only in Community. Or: you can't know who you are in isolation.
This leads us to a giant question. If we know there are parts of our character that are not Christ-like how do we change them?
Galations 5:16-26
16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Philippians 2:5-8
5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
posted by Phil at
10:40 AM
12 Comments:
Diverging a bit from the topic at hand, I wanted to bring to light some information I recently learned about the issue of women on the board of Broadway. This issue resonated with me on Thursday evening and I got to asking a few questions. I wanted to get this posted because I believe that, in order to make changes, we need to understand the context we will be operating under-- to learn from what has been done before us in order to best equip ourselves to facilitate this change.
To get women on the board at Broadway involves an alteration of an amendment in the church's constitution - a change that was voted against by, believe it or not, women a few years ago. It wasn't that they didn't agree with having women on the board, but the small group who had chosen to take up the fight were not representative of the majority of the women in the church - in fact, from what I learned, the small group apparently offended and alienated women (and men), presenting a stereotype that the other women wanted no part in. Long story short, the amendment was never changed.
Granted, this is the Coles notes of the situation - about as much as I could get from anyone.
When thinking about this issue, pray not only that the ears and hearts of the congregation would be open again to this change, but that the person/people who will step up to approach this issue would do so in such a way that people would see the necessity of changing the amendment. Passion is imperative, but alienating, offending and disrespecting individuals in the name of a cause (especially those in whose hands the decision lies) won't help to further anything.
I don't think that the congregation at Broadway will be opposed to such a change. There are many women who I know personally would be an excellent addition to the board. We need to know what we're up against, so as to not make the same mistake twice.
Just a few things to think about.
By
Anonymous, at 9:35 PM
Phil -- nicely done. This b-log is looking hawt.
Lindsay -- intersting input! I have also heard that the ammendment was voted down by a group of women and that the issue was approached in poor taste.
The voting membership of Broadway does not appear to be representative of the actual Body.
Dianna made an interesting comment on Sunday: many people feel that becoming a member communicates that they agree with all of Broadway's values and actions. A more effective means to impact change would be to becomes a member, which actually gives individuals a voice (and a vote).
By
Jamie, at 1:30 PM
Lindsay - I am also familiar with the history. This is one of the reasons that some of us are asking for repentence from the leadership for systemic mysogyny first, then followed by structural change. We need to first be aware that our system is male chauvanist in line with thousands of years of patriarchy. Once we repent for unChristian patriarchy, then we can get to work of restructuring. This is the opposite order to the previous attempt which called for restructuring without proper repentence. You'll note that Norb's message on Sunday is a huge kick at the problem of corporate repentence, and he did a good job at opening up the reality of corporate sin. We should be able to begin to expose those sins sometime soon.
Phil - Great work on the blog, bro.
By
Anonymous, at 9:45 AM
Excellent.
By
Anonymous, at 11:23 AM
corporate sin - like arrogance
By
Anonymous, at 2:38 PM
so women cant be put on the board? but a woman can be hired to be a paster? to run child programs in some churches or youth programs and in broadway case small groups now has not the one woman pastor karen reed been at broadway for a long long time? so i know the head pastor usually has a hugh hand the decision for the pastoral staff and the board usually handles the head pastor to head the church, but i dont understand how you can hire a woman part to run part of the church small groups in Reeds case(a hugh part of broadway) if not the Best part of broadway... yet not being open to having a woman on the board?... but then what dose it really matter? is not having a woman on the board being arrogate? is it corporate sin?? i dont think it matters if its a guy on the board or a girl... if people are too caught in broadway not putting women on the board then leave... find church that dose if it will make you feel better... cause you think you know what Jesus would want for his the church.. food for thought- if Jesus wanted a woman to have a say you think he would of picked one for his 12 disciples... there i guess that two point of views on this man vs woman power strugle in the church
Niko Fetatanko
By
Anonymous, at 4:26 AM
oh yeah- Cory what if you dont have anyone to ask what kind of person i am are?... do i need to search this planet find some who can? i couldnt do that spiritual girt survey thing cause of that....
lost in Ontario
Niko Fetatanko
By
Anonymous, at 4:32 AM
1 Timothy 3 is why a woman shouldnt on the board, always wonder why some woman became a pastors... the church i go to here in ontario has had like four women pastors... since ive gone there since 98' and my friends mom was on the board as a Decon, about 4 years ago i think... its actually a tough one to understand...
By
Anonymous, at 2:34 PM
yay, some dialogue.
Phil- super job.
Lindsay- nicely put. Very Lois Lane of you, minus the Lois Lane stereotype. Oxymoron? Yes please.
Jamie- you said b-log and hawt. I laughed.
Anonymous- can you stop posting anonymously?
Nik- you seem pretty set against women in ministry, unless I'm misunderstanding. For the sake of conversation, (and because I disagree with you), consider the age-old real estate slogan: "context, context, context!". (Inaccurate, yes, but makes a point, yes?). Simply consider this, in regards to 1 Timothy 3: Paul was Jewish. His readership was Jewish. Jews were, and still are, notoriously patriarchal. Could this have factored into his message about deacons? I think probably. Paul, in my experience with his writings, was candid but only shit-disturbed out of necessity (see: "Gentiles Should Not Have to Sever Their Foreskins"). Why would he have spouted off about women in leadership when he was probably addressing an issue in one church?
Someone, anyone, PLEASE respond. I can't be right all the time.
ps... Nik, how are you??
By
Jared, at 3:05 AM
Nope I love woman in ministry... I have no problem with I think the church has moved past the no woman in minitries... im just a very sarcastic person so since my post was doing boths point of views at the end i got too sarcastic in favor of the men... i apoligise... i think if there gonna be woman pastors at a church there should be open to woman on the board just if there no woman pastors at a church then they still should be open to it I believe.. but dont do one and not the other cause its a leadership thats contridicting it self... and Jesus dose not contridict himself!
niko fetatanko
p.s im good...working saving the money to hit vancity again in may contract(work) ends at end of april...
By
Anonymous, at 5:49 AM
Women in Ministry and 1 Timothy 2:
In Romans 16:7, Paul lists a woman, Junia, among the apostles. In Acts 18:26 Luke lists Priscilla and Aquila as teachers (of men). In Titus 2 old women are teachers. In Romans 16, Paul writes to leaders in churches in Rome, naming both men and women. Galatians 3:28 seems to suggest that Paul did not find any difference between men and women, so why the specific directions to Timothy about women in 1 Tim 2? There are a few ways to interpret this, keeping in mind a contextual interpretation must engage the rest of Paul’s writings, and the bible as a whole.
ONE, this book is written to Timothy as a guide for leadership in a specific church in Ephesus which is struggling with Gnosticism at the time. The language of 1 Timothy, which includes “teaching” instructions 24 times gives us a clue to the purpose of the book. The Gnostics at the time gave leadership to women, and so a lot of Christian women at the time were likely tempted to become Gnostics. The message is clear, to be counter-cultural, the men should pray more than argue, and the women should study much more before they teach (so they don’t teach heresy, as their Gnostic friends would advocate).
TWO, Paul meant for these instructions to be universal in tone, and women should not be in leadership. In this case, Paul obviously contradicts himself in his other writings by indicating women in leadership, and we should reconsider his authority as an apostle.
THREE, the women in Ephesus should study peacefully before they teach, just as the men should pray peacefully. The word translated “silent” here doesn’t mean silent, it means “peaceful and respectful” as the same Greek word is used in Acts 11:18, and 21:14, where it clearly involves speaking peacefully. The imperative is that women MUST study, this is a command, but that women do not teach is not a command (I can teach because I study, duh!). The word for “authority” here is not the common word used for authority, but more likely means “domineering or destructive leadership.” It’s not saying that women shouldn’t have authority, but that it shouldn’t be domineering or destructive. The final instruction is that women should shut up and have babies, that they will be saved through childbirth (a pretty odd soteriology indeed). I have no idea what Paul meant here, but it contradicts his other writings if he meant this literally, and in light of what we’ve just seen, it’s probably pretty contextually specific.
By
Anonymous, at 10:05 AM
wow....this is awesome! Months of nothing and now lots of new teaching on the Converg. site! Whoohoo! I can once again feel party of the group, even if I am not currently there in body (6 months to go!).
Corrie, you inspire me so much. Your knowledge of the word of God is awesome and your style of teaching encourages me in my walk with God. Thank you so much for coming to Convergence. Your teaching rocks!
oh and Dawn, you remind me so much of one of my kiwi pals. VERY funny and also full of wisdom and insight. I hope I can get to know you more when I return to Van-city.
Bless you all! See you in July!
~ Jody (the kiwi gal)
By
Anonymous, at 2:12 AM
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