If you want to change your world … or your church, don’t focus on outcomes. Focus on behaviors.

The problem

If I am writing a book or a series of articles, I know what I want to achieve. So it’s not the outcome that is my problem. It’s knowing and implementing what behaviors are needed to make it happen.

State governors and political leaders in Congress tell us that preserving our economy and balancing the budget is essential, something most thinking Americans have know for years. It’s not the outcome that is the problem. It’s knowing and implementing the complex and courageous behaviors needed to make it happen.

Think of something you’d like to see changed

For example, what about ageism and the growing generation gap in society and the church today? You know it exists and it bodes huge societal and spiritual problems.

The fact you would like for it to be different is not the problem. It’s knowing and implementing the behaviors needed to bridge this gap in your family, church or city.

A possible behavior change would be become vitally acquainted with five who are 20 years older and five who are 20 years younger than you are. Look for ways to spend time with them. Listen to their stories. Discover what it is like for them to live in today’s world.

Share how knowing Christ and living a life strong in faith has enriched your journey, helped you overcome mistakes and made you who you are today. Don’t wait. Reach out. Earn the right to be valued and accepted by persons of every age.

Serving-from-spirit

Feel a need to deepen your spiritual life? In his book, Spirituality and Aging, noted gerontologist Robert C. Atchley points up the fact that gerontology as a discipline has woefully underestimated the importance of spirituality for aging people. He notes that, “people over 40 are primary consumers of literature, workshops, retreats and personal growth programs concerning spirituality.”

Among elders “service is very often a spiritual experience,” especially when springing from what he refers to as serving-from-spirit.

The serving-from-spirit concept is based on the idea that effective service in the community is rooted in two things: 1) a cultivated connection with the experiential spirituality that lies within each human being, and 2) knowledge and skills needed to be effective in whatever arena of service one chooses.”

Atchley states that, “Serving-from-spirit is a stance from which to be of service and a model of how one can grow spiritually and at the same time become more effective in service to the community.”

Reach lost people? “Show and tell”

As an evangelical Christian, the emphasis in my early years was on “telling” the gospel. We practiced methods, read booklets, memorized formulaic doorstep approaches to evangelism. It seems that over the years, we relied on so much “telling” in America that a staggering percentage of people even inside the church have actually stopped listening.

The goal of reaching lost people has not changed. But our behaviors? Well, let’s just say that telling the story of Jesus on someone’s doorstep may not be as convincing as mowing their lawn or fixing a loose porch step. Preschoolers and kindergarteners are our spiritual mentors today. “Show and Tell.” In that order. And isn’t this what Jesus did?

One’s life and the message of that life are so intertwined as to be inseparable. It just is. This is something some have learned the hard way, one of the things we can pass along to those who follow after us.

I have a feeling that when today’s young adults look back on their journey, they may be telling those who follow them, “We leaned hard on technology to tell the story. But it’s really one’s life that counts.

Behaviors bring about change.

Not technology.

Who you are and the message of your life can’t be separated. Preschoolers and kindergartners were right. First “Show,” then “Tell.”

Ward Tanneberg