Song: “Be The Change” by David Bennet

Scripture: Mark 10:17–22 and Romans 12:2 (ESV)

Good morning, and welcome to Starting Our Day Together.

I want to ask you a question this morning.

What would it take for you to change your mind about something you’ve believed for years?

I went to see Social Reckoning, and there was an exchange that stayed with me.

The question, as I remember it, was how hard it is to get a rich person to change.

The answer went something like this.

If it’s about money, it’s hard.

If it’s about something else, it’s really hard.

I thought about that on the way home.

What could be harder to give up than money?

Then I started thinking about what money can buy.

It can buy comfort.

It can buy independence.

It can put you in rooms where people listen when you speak.

And if you’ve spent your life building those things, a request to change can sound like a request to give up some of what you’ve worked for.

And then I had to turn the question around.

What am I holding on to that would make it hard for me to change?

What do you think change will cost you?

Sometimes we explain our resistance in practical terms.

We say, “This is how we’ve always done it,” or “I need to think about it some more.”

Sometimes those are good reasons.

But sometimes we already know what needs to change.

What we’re trying to figure out is how much it’s going to cost us.

Think about a person who has led an organization for twenty years.

Somebody new comes in and says, “I think there’s a better way to do this.”

The leader might even see the merit in the idea.

But there’s another thought running through his mind.

If she’s right, what does that say about how I’ve been doing it all these years?

Or think about somebody who wants to make a better decision with their money but is already stretched thin.

For that person, trying something different might mean risking the little stability they have.

Two people can hear the same advice and face very different consequences if it goes wrong.

So, before you decide somebody is just stubborn, ask what they stand to lose.

And when it’s your turn to make a change, ask yourself the same question.

Is it money?

Is it comfort?

Is it the approval of people you love?

Is it the feeling that you know what you’re doing?

Sometimes what we’re protecting is our right to say, “I was right all along.”

What happens when the cheese moves?

That brings me to Who Moved My Cheese?

I like the picture of the cheese because you can put almost anything in its place.

The cheese might be a job, a source of income, a routine, or an opportunity you counted on.

You go to the same spot every day, and for a long time, the cheese is there.

Then one day you go back and it’s gone.

You can stand there and have a perfectly reasonable conversation about who moved it and whether they had any business touching it.

You might even be owed an answer.

Meanwhile, you still have to eat.

Think about somebody whose job changes after twenty-five years.

There’s a real loss there.

They may miss the people, the work, and the sense that somebody was counting on them.

Give yourself room to feel that loss.

Then ask, What did I learn in those twenty-five years that I can take with me?

Maybe you know how to train people.

Maybe you know how to get a team through a difficult day.

Maybe you understand a problem that somebody else is still trying to solve.

The old opportunity can be gone while the abilities you developed there are still yours.

Sometimes circumstances move the cheese.

And sometimes the cheese is still there, and God is asking whether you’re willing to walk away from it.

When the cheese is still there

In Mark chapter 10, a man runs up to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life.

After they talk about the commandments, Mark gives us a detail I don’t want us to miss.

Jesus looked at him and loved him.

Then Jesus told him to sell what he owned, give to the poor, and follow him.

The man went away sorrowful because he had great possessions.

Think about that.

His wealth was still there.

He could walk right back to the life he knew.

Jesus was asking him to decide whether he trusted him enough to leave that life behind.

I can read that passage and spend all my time thinking about people who have more money than I do.

But I get more out of it when I ask, What could Jesus put his finger on in my life that would make me walk away sorrowful?

Maybe it’s a position I enjoy.

Maybe it’s a grudge I’ve carried so long I wouldn’t know how to talk about that person without bringing it up.

Maybe it’s a belief I’ve defended publicly, and now I’m afraid of how I’ll look if I admit I’ve had second thoughts.

Jesus loved that man enough to tell him the truth.

Can I receive a hard truth from somebody who loves me?

And when it’s my turn to speak, can I tell the truth in a way that makes it clear I care about the person hearing it?

What could make you reconsider?

That applies to politics, too.

People’s choices can reflect what they’ve experienced, what they fear losing, who they trust, and what they think will help their family or community.

Two people with the same income can hear the same proposal and come away with different concerns.

Here’s a question I think we can all ask, whatever group we identify with.

What would I need to see or hear to reconsider one of my positions?

Maybe you’d have to hear from someone you trust who has lived through the issue you’re discussing.

Maybe you’d have to see what happened when a policy was put into practice.

Maybe you’d have to notice that a position you’ve defended is in tension with a value you’ve always claimed.

You might reconsider one issue and still vote the way you’ve always voted.

You might come to understand why somebody else made a different choice, even if you reach the same conclusion you did before.

And if you do change your mind, you can explain what changed without treating everybody who still disagrees as foolish.

After all, you used to see it their way yourself.

Romans 12:2 speaks of being “transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

Paul connects that renewal to discerning God’s will.

I need that reminder when the people around me are sure what I ought to think, and when I’m sure I already know.

One step this morning

Think of one thing you’ve been slow to reconsider.

It could be the way you handle a relationship, a routine that has outlived its purpose, or an opinion you haven’t examined in years.

Ask yourself three questions.

1. What am I afraid I’ll lose if I change?

1. What might it cost me to stay where I am?

1. What’s one honest step I can take today?

That step might be listening to somebody all the way through before you answer.

It might be calling the person who has tried to tell you something you didn’t want to hear.

It might be saying, “I need to think about that,” and then actually giving yourself time to think about it.

Closing prayer

Lord, show us what we’re holding on to and help us understand why.

Give us the humility to listen, the wisdom to know what deserves to change, and the courage to take the next step.

When we’re afraid of what change might cost us, help us remember that we can trust you with what comes next.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

As you go through your day, pay attention to the moment you feel yourself getting defensive.

Before you answer, give yourself a second to ask, “What am I protecting right now?”