Change

Rachel Held Evans, in Faith Unraveled, says:
I was a fundamentalist not because of the beliefs I held but because of how I held them: with a death grip.  It would take God himself to finally pry some of them out of my hands.

I think we have all experienced stubbornness - our own unwillingness to let go of an idea or belief, even to the point of ridiculousness. I remember arguing with a fellow high school student over the pronunciation of a French phrase.  He was right; I was wrong, but I couldn't let go of my opinion because to do so would mean that he was right - again.  I so valued the idea of his wrongness that I prioritized it above truth.

When we apply the same thoughts to our faith, our stubbornness extends beyond our desire to be right.  Our faith, I think, defines how we see God, and when we are wrong, our whole belief system can be shifted.  How we imagine God, or what we imagine God wants for our lives, might have to change.  And sometimes allowing that change feels like betraying God.

Look at the second sentence in that quote: "It would take God himself to finally pry some of them [her beliefs] out of my hands."

So often I hear people protest that God does not change.  I think there is biblical support to counter that arguement, but even if it is completely true - God does not change - then why do we equate our understanding of God with God himself?

Shouldn't we be humble enough to know that our understanding of God must change in order to be perfected? Do we really believe that our own personal undersatnding is unflawed? And are we so convinced we are completely right that open ourselves up to change would mean that God does not exist?

I think God would argue that point.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I  became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we  will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.  (Corinthians 13:11-12)