Change: The New Normal

June 9, 2020

By Pastor Steve Peich

2 Corinthians 3.18 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 

In 2 Corinthians 3.18, Paul writes about an existential reality for anyone who follows God. “Ever-increasing glory” means a lot of things, but in the very least it means change. Transformation, growth, greater character, deeper impact, etc. are all meant to be part of the normal Christian journey; they are basic, not bonus, to our life with God. 

I know that the constant tug of little ones at your ankles, or that broken screen you had to fix because yourloved one decided to be The Hulk that afternoon and ran through it, or that constant undertow of sadness you may feel because you can’t live or worship like we once did all create in us a deep desire for things to be ‘normal’ again. And perhaps a little normal would be good for us, but if I am honest, it won’t be the best for us if that is all that has happened after this crisis. 

Our bodies and brains love normal. They crave for stasis––a balanced calm––where we feel safe, secure, and in control. When our brains (and our bodies) don’t feel this, it causes a cascade of chemicals to run through our neural pathways to get us to feel ‘normal’ again. But our souls need to be stretched from normal in order to find its greatest health. Everything about the Scriptures teaches us that continued growth and change is deeply intertwined with human flourishing. In fact, as you have likely heard me say many times from the pulpit, growth implies change. If we are not changing, we are not growing. That’s true on the biological level, the business level, the education level, and even the church level.  

Recently I had been in conversation with a man who was tragically sick and dying, but even in that condition his faith, love, and trust in God grew in “ever-increasing glory.” It was so inspiring to dialogue with him those weeks before he passed. So yes, even as we are losing life, Jesus calls upward into greater life with Him. 

Now I know for some, when we hear ‘change,’ we hear disruption – or more accurately, negative disruption. We almost instinctively anticipate that what will come next will not be something I will be comfortable with (which may be true). However, if we are open to it, a 2 Corinthians 3.18 change in us will be exactly what our family needs, what our business needs, what our classroom needs, and what our church needs. 

So my challenge to us is to pray, reflect on, and discuss with others our proclivity toward ‘normal’ with an eye toward the call of 2 Corinthians 3.18. As one wise sage wrote recently, “the world has changed almost unbelievably since mid-March 2020, but stop for a moment and think about how much you’ve changed.”

Practically speaking, what would it take in your life to stay on an ‘ever-increasing glory’ type of journey? Don’t try to change 10 different things at once, but prayerfully consider one thing you know needs a God-change. Once you got that figured out, what would you need to shift in your use of your time, activity, and attention to see change arise? Just as importantly, who would you need in your life to keep you on this journey? The reality is you will never become all that God intends without walking with a trusted friend or two who will encourage you, pray for you, challenge you, support you, and speak the truth in love to you.  

One of these days we will be back as a church community meeting face-to-face. This craziness won’t last forever. But what will be different? What will be a little more ‘glorious’ in us when meet again soul-to-soul? 

Prayer: “Lord, I confess I love the idea of change, but not its process. Show me one thing that needs transformation. Give me the courage and humility to face that one thing, and lead me to people who will graciously walk with me in the journey of ever-increasing glory. Lord, I completely surrender my life to You. Amen.”  

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