I wrote a little on creativity yesterday. I didn’t focus on creativity in your work or in ministry on purpose. But if you want to live a new life, a creative life, a transformed life, then all the same tips apply.The toughest resistance is closest to home. My “style” of Christianity, spirituality, ministry or pastoring meets resistance from far and wide as well as close at hand. But it’s not so difficult to press on if I meet resistance from a distant stranger. It gets tougher if it’s a friend or someone I trust. It gets even tougher if it’s from my own family. It gets even tougher still if it’s my wife or best friend or church or someone else I respect. The herd, the community, the family, the culture, the cult or whatever strongly resists independent living and penalizes those who try it.
Which leads me to believe, therefore, that the greatest resistance to transformative living is within our own hearts and minds. It’s fear of rejection, isolation, alienation and exclusion. We need the courage to be new creations in spite of the feared cost and loss. The invitation is to a new kind of living. I encourage people to be fiercely independent in their thinking, living and working. Then I give them unlimited space. This is what you, I, and the world needs. And we need it now!
The fine art photograph is the creation of my friend Jorgen Klausen, and is from his “metamorphosis” series.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
David Hayward is a pastor artistically stripping to the essential.
David – Thanks for your thoughtful post. I agree that the closer resistance is to an individual, the harder it is to take. I think that there are times when that resistance needs to be heeded from those who are closest to us.
On another note, Dr. Kendall Soulen, one of my pofessors at seminary said that the threat from within is greater than the threat from without.
What I have noticed is that most issues are issues of preference. And yet these are given the energy of moral failings. Or there is the reasoning that if we push the edge, this will lead to terrible things happening. This is all fear based thinking.
I thought Christianity was based on love, not fear. And yet fear seems to be the word for the day and age.
Thanks for this. I really needed to hear it. I know I desire change in my life so much that it hurts. But fear of being shunned or rejected by those I view as “close” to me keeps me from changing.