The Change We Seek is a Change of Heart

“Change” has become the buzz word of the current political season. It’s almost always used the same way President Bush uses the word democracy -- without reference to what it really means. It’s reasonable to assume that change in America means something different than what we have right now, just like a change to democracy in the Middle East suggests something different that what they have now. In either case the words “for the better” are implied. Change for the better is what we’re looking for. That only makes sense.

In its early days Christianity was sold as systematic change. The Greeks and Romans Paul encountered practiced primitive polytheistic systems more as a culture than a faith. For them Christianity was a step from a theatrical religion to one demanding a true commitment of the heart. In other words, these educated Gentiles didn’t really believe their stone and metal idols were Gods, so Paul’s Christianity offered to exchange something real and powerful for something they knew to be imaginary. He managed to entice more than a few.

For the Jews who became Christians it was quite another story, and this is the part that’s instructive to understanding what people may be yearning for when they embrace the word “change.” The Jews very much believed God was real and embraced an elaborate system for getting right with God. Christianity also believed in the truth of God but offered a radically changed approach to joining in God’s righteousness. You might call a contrast between the logical and the intuitive, head vs. heart, or as Christians describe it, achievement of righteousness vs. righteousness by the gift of God’s grace.

Paul, an elaborate theologian, is the source of much of what we teach about grace, but the intuitive, heart-centered approach to knowing God might be better described in the simple words of Jesus: “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Do that and the way to all the rest will become apparent. This I believe embodies the kind of “change” we desire in our national fabric -- not a change in policy but a change of heart.

Over the years I’ve seen the following excerpt from Benjamin Reist’s book on Dietrich Bonhoeffer help many understand how grace works to recreate who we are and empower us to change our world. I offer it here, hoping it can help bring a change of heart. Take the time to read it carefully, especially the last sentence.

“Bonhoeffer characterizes the Pharisee as ‘that extremely admirable man who subordinates his entire life to his knowledge of good and evil and is as severe a judge of himself as of his neighbor …’. The Pharisee’s problem, to which he devotes the entire momentum of his life, is the problem of this conflict (between good and evil) and the decisions necessary to overcome it. This explains the continuous and unresolvable argument between the Pharisees and Jesus. The Pharisee is preoccupied, anxiously so, with an issue Jesus has left behind, and Jesus is speaking in terms of a reality the Pharisee cannot or will not recognize. ... for the Pharisee the problem is for man to reach God by way of the integrity and constancy of his own decisions; for the Christian the challenge is to make decisions in the light of the fact that God has reached him.”

The Bradley Factor is Simply the Human Factor

Much election night analysis of why the polls were so wrong in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary focused on what is called “the Bradley Factor.” That’s Tom Bradley, the black losing candidate for mayor of Los Angeles who the polls predicted as a sure winner. Like Barack Obama. Bradley isn’t the only example, but the theory goes something like this: People don’t want to admit they harbor racial biases so they tell pollsters they are going to support a black candidate they know they would support, if not for his or her race. But when the curtain closes they vote otherwise -- or they just stay home.

The same phenomenon in reverse might be called the David Duke factor. The former Klan kingpin always ran better than he polled. That’s the beauty of the secret ballot. You can be yourself, even when you‘re ashamed of who you are. Notably, by Wednesday the TV news outlets had dropped this line of speculation. We remain as a nation unwilling to face our chronic prejudices.

The “Bradley Factor” might also be called the “human factor,” and it’s not uniquely American. The apostle Paul put it something like this: “those things I know I should do I don’t do. And those things I wish I wouldn’t do, I do.” It’s not easy being people. Reading the early part of the Bible you get the impression God thought he did a pretty good job of creating us. We proved God wrong on that one, which is how we ended up needing this thing called grace, where we’re not dependent on being better than Paul, or Duke supporters, or Bradley deserters.

The other day Christian Heartbeat received a generous donation from a personal friend who has been reading our publication. I was very thankful and proud that he and his wife support our work. He called our mission here “noble.” Paul writes in Romans that our actions in life should “take thought for what is noble.” I’d like to believe that’s what I’m doing but sometimes I wonder if I’m just completely full of myself. When I do, I console myself with the knowledge two of Christianity’s great heroes, Mother Teresa and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor killed for opposing Hitler, also challenged themselves with the same question: Are my actions, which look sacrificial to others, nothing but a giant ego trip?

Neither was ever sure -- probably an indication in their favor, but that speaks to the impossibility of really knowing what makes any of us tick. So we struggle on with the “Bradley Factor,” never fully sure what motivates our brothers and sisters, and with the “human factor,” not even sure how we are motivated ourselves.