When discussing church planting issues the question of revitalizing existing churches will often be raised. In fact just this week I had a guy ask if I knew of any “dead or dying” churches in our network that were open to making changes to be more “externally focused” and “evangelistic.” I shared with him that in most cases there are good reasons why a church is dead or dying and often it is simply because the church has no real desire to change. The church may say they want to change and experience spiritual and numeric growth, but their actions and behaviors prove otherwise.

Well today David Wayne linked to an interesting article discussing research on our resistance to change in a 2005 issue of Fast Company magazine. The article was reference by Ed Stetzer in a conversation that he, Drew Goodmanson, and David had over lunch at the GCA North America Church Planting Seminar. 

In one example the author highlights the necessity for change for many Americans in the area of health and lifestyle issues. He presents the astonishing numbers surrounding bypass surgeries and angioplaties and the temporary results gained because of the lack of post-surgery lifestyle changes.

Then the knockout blow was delivered by Dr. Edward Miller, the dean of the medical school and CEO of the hospital at Johns Hopkins University. He turned the discussion to patients whose heart disease is so severe that they undergo bypass surgery, a traumatic and expensive procedure that can cost more than $100,000 if complications arise. About 600,000 people have bypasses every year in the United States, and 1.3 million heart patients have angioplasties — all at a total cost of around $30 billion. The procedures temporarily relieve chest pains but rarely prevent heart attacks or prolong lives. Around half of the time, the bypass grafts clog up in a few years; the angioplasties, in a few months. The causes of this so-called restenosis are complex. It’s sometimes a reaction to the trauma of the surgery itself. But many patients could avoid the return of pain and the need to repeat the surgery — not to mention arrest the course of their disease before it kills them — by switching to healthier lifestyles. Yet very few do. “If you look at people after coronary-artery bypass grafting two years later, 90% of them have not changed their lifestyle,” Miller said. “And that’s been studied over and over and over again. And so we’re missing some link in there. Even though they know they have a very bad disease and they know they should change their lifestyle, for whatever reason, they can’t.”

Later the author asks: What works? Why, in general, is change so incredibly difficult for people? What is it about how our brains are wired that resists change so tenaciously? Why do we fight even what we know to be in our own vital interests?

The answer seems to be two-fold. First, research indicates that change happens when there is a connection to the heart not simply the head; and second, habits (both good and bad) are formed and ingrained into our behavior over time.

Kotter has hit on a crucial insight. “Behavior change happens mostly by speaking to people’s feelings,” he says. “This is true even in organizations that are very focused on analysis and quantitative measurement, even among people who think of themselves as smart in an MBA sense. In highly successful change efforts, people find ways to help others see the problems or solutions in ways that influence emotions, not just thought.”

Later in the article:

Are most of us like the fearful copier salespeople who dread disruption to their routines? Neuroscience, a field that has exploded with insight, has a lot more to say about changing people’s behavior — and its findings are guardedly optimistic. Scientists used to believe that the brain became “hardwired” early in life and couldn’t change later on. Now researchers such as Dr. Michael Merzenich, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco, say that the brain’s ability to change — its “plasticity” — is lifelong. If we can change, then why don’t we? Merzenich has perspective on the issue since he’s not only a leading neuroscientist but also an entrepreneur, the founder of two Bay Area startups. Both use PC software to train people to overcome mental disabilities or diseases: Scientific Learning Corp. focuses on children who have trouble learning to read, and Posit Science Corp. is working on ways to prevent, stop, or reverse cognitive decline in older adults.

Merzenich starts by talking about rats. You can train a rat to have a new skill. The rat solves a puzzle, and you give it a food reward. After 100 times, the rat can solve the puzzle flawlessly. After 200 times, it can remember how to solve it for nearly its lifetime. The rat has developed a habit. It can perform the task automatically because its brain has changed. Similarly, a person has thousands of habits — such as how to use a pen — that drive lasting changes in the brain. For highly trained specialists, such as professional musicians, the changes actually show up on MRI scans. Flute players, for instance, have especially large representations in their brains in the areas that control the fingers, tongue, and lips, Merzenich says. “They’ve distorted their brains.”

While there is much more to the article that I would recommend reading there were two major implications that I made in regards to faith issues. First is the reminder that deep lasting change takes place as behaviors become habit. We fully participate in the companionship of Christ only as we place ourselves in a position – through the regular, consistent practice of the spiritual disciplines – whereby God can transform our lives.

The second implication has to do with touching the feelings or emotions to encourage change. We need to recognize that change takes place best not simply by speaking to the head, but rather by speaking to the imagination and tapping into the power of story. Thinking on the power of story reminded me once again the words of Eugene Peterson in “Christ Play in Ten Thousands Places:” 

“The moment we formulate our doctrines, draw up our moral codes, and throw ourselves into a life of discipleship and ministry apart from a continuous re-immersion in the story itself, we walk right out of the concrete and local presence and activity of God and set up own shop.”