Nothing I say will change a single mind. That’s just reality.
Nothing I write will convince anyone to agree with me. That’s also reality.
Nothing I do will cause another person to change. That’s certainly reality.
Seems a bit hopeless and pointless when it’s put this way. But really, it’s quite freeing.
All I can do is be open to change myself. To be a better person. To treat others better. To live the way of peace. To show respect, whether it is deserved or not. To love the unlovable. To forgive. To show an alternative to hatred and fear.
This coming Sunday Jesus says to wipe the dust off your feet if you are not welcomed in a place. Not everyone will be open to hearing you. Not everyone will be open to change. Many will not in fact. Changing is often about not being in control.
So the question is this – in the midst of fear and anger and hatred, in the midst of a sea of anxiety, what do I do/say/write?
You are not alone. There is another way. Death does not have the final say. Fear, anger, and hatred are empty and unsatisfying.
I can’t change someone else. I can barely be open to change for myself many times. But maybe that’s all we need – a willingness to change, to be transformed. To encounter God.
Laced up Lutheran 
Question:
So, why speak or even write this post?
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Because we always live in hope, i.e. the hope of Jesus Christ, hope for others and for ourselves. Otherwise we may as well roll over and die.
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Good question. The answer to that, which could apply to every single blog post I’ve ever done is this – I don’t write to convince anyone of anything. I have always written this blog as a way to process what is going on inside of me, and so I don’t burden my wife with all these thoughts. Often I need an outlet on which to put these thoughts out of my mind, let them be voiced, allow them to simmer, and to approach them again and see how I have changed in my thinking. I’m just amazed that anyone else cares enough to read what I write.
So, let’s extend the question – why preach? I can’t convince anyone of anything. I’m not called to change minds, but to proclaim the Good News. Those who have ears will hear.
Having said all that, I also have a bit of egotism within me. I hope that the words I write can bring about change. Or at least conversation. Conversations have started as a result of some blog posts. And because of some of the things I write, there is a greater awareness of some of the challenges that our society faces – ie homelessness.
But it comes down to this – Change doesn’t come from me. It comes from God. It comes from God opening someone’s head and heart to be transformed. If comes from God unblocking someone’s eyes and ears so that they may see and hear.
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Yes, it’s been a long time since I took a basic speech or writing class, but I recall the purposes being to entertain, to inform, or to persuade.
I totally get the difference between persuasion on your own part and that of God. I believe you are on the right track to point that out.
It was your opening statement that really troubles me though. “Nothing I say will change a single mind. That’s just reality.” The statements following that likewise, actually.
What if you say THE WORD of GOD, though, like preaching? Then something you say can change a mind. I have had my mind changed by persuasive arguments before – some not even biblical. Ever watch a TV ad? Ever been invited to church with a friend?
But your statement at the start gives no oxygen to these matters – not as put.
That is why I question it.
To be frank, I actually expected you were meaning something deeper, and honestly, whatever that is probably needs to be explored.
I happen to be in agreement with a LOT of things you post, and I am charitable to the things I quibble with, mostly because I sense that you are a very insightful blogger who I can trust. I might be quibbled out of my quibble on any particular point, or I might quibble you into a new view. But we are already in the same ballpark on most of the matters discussed here.
On the other hand, I find engaging with people who flatly disagree and have no charity toward my views feels futile very fast. I happened to comment on a post on a blog I never saw before recently and left an insight no one else there seems to have pondered. The blogger thanked me for it, but it seems I interrupted a larger argument there that just keeps polluting my comment feeder with what looks like a futile argument in which I don’t have a dog fighting, and being an outsider looking in it just appears like a lot of wasted energy – people trying to get the last word and whatever.
I will do that a little, but once it appears that the futility is taking over, I will bow out. I am all about clarifying. I really can reach a point where I am okay saying, I just disagree. I am okay letting such things simmer a long time. Sometimes its me that comes back to the argument months or years later and says, I think I am now convinced of the other side of this issue – or some nuanced middle or outer ground.
But then there is contempt. And at somepoint, if you just argue and will not have the charity to listen and care, then you are just having contempt for the other view holder and or their view.
Anyway, I am really just touching on a number of matters here, any of which could be pursued at some depth.
But the underlying matter which seems most important in my view, at the moment, is how God calls prophetic voices to speak his WORD and sends these messengers to people he already knows will not listen – or even when God himself hardens the hearts of those he sends them to! Wow! What is that about???
Just for consideration (and perhaps I could list more) look at Isa. 65:12; Jer. 7:27; Ezek. 2:7; Matt. 10:19.
Worth exploring.
Thanx for responding.
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When i approach this, i start with the idea that only those who are open to hearing or even consideration of different ideas will hear. But it doesn’t start with anything i say. I starts with someone being open.
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