More About Change Agents

We were in a church once where the leadership thought any “change agent” was a subversive character out to destroy the integrity of the church. After one of the leaders had taught a class along that line, repeating the term “change agent” several times almost with a sneer, I approached him for a discussion. Here is the gist of our conversation:

Jesus said we are to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5). Both are change agents: salt both as a preservative and as a flavor enhancer, light to illuminate a topic or a situation. He also said go tell everyone the good news (Mark 16:15), presumably to convince them to follow him.

And we all know of churches where we wish something were a little different. Paul for example was constantly writing to churches encouraging them to correct their errors. Take the Corinthian letters as an example (e.g. 1:10). And Jesus, speaking through John in the Revelation, had corrections for five of the seven churches He directed letters to in the beginning of the book. See the letter to the church at Ephesus for example (2:4-5).

But perhaps the most important aspect of being a change agent is our constant duty to encourage each other to show love and do good works (Hebrews 10:24-25). My hope for all of us is that we will not just “go along to get along” but will be change agents for good both in the church and out.

Victims, Change Agents and Babies

There are, of course, many more than two kinds of people in the world, but it can be fun and sometimes educational to think of people as if they all fall into one of two groups. So, bear with me for a bit and let’s think of people as being either a victim or a change agent. This thought occurred to me the other day as I was thinking about our newest descendant’s future.

I am thinking mostly in terms of how people see themselves. Just listening to people talk, a lot of them seem to see themselves as victims of whatever comes along. They tend to look for the ways in which they are personally negatively affected by whatever happens. It is a “Woe is Me” lens through which to view the world. Not to mention how it affects people around them, it must be a miserable way to live. Though some of them do seem to enjoy it.

On the other side are those who see themselves as change agents. I suppose you could further divide the change agents into subgroups. For example, bullies might see themselves that way, but I like to think about the change agents who use positive means – those, influenced by Jesus, who approach the world and all its troubles looking for where they might make a positive difference. Using gentleness, kindness, forgiveness and patience as their tools, they approach each situation looking for ways to make it better. My prayer for little Ginny is that she will be a change agent and not a victim. 

[She is, of course much cuter than this clip art.]