CHANGE, CHEESE AND THE CHURCH
by Richard Burkard
It's not often that 100-page books become best-sellers - especially with 20-dollar price tags on them. But one book has achieved that in the last few years, because its story has parallels that apply at several levels. You can read it and see your career, your love life - and even the recent history of the Church of God.
"Who Moved My Cheese?" (Spencer Johnson, M.D., 1998) is a tale about four characters in a maze, and how they cope with change. The book's become a "must-read" for managers in many companies. In fact, my co-workers and I were required to read it recently at a job where I was freelancing. (If you want to save $20, your library probably has the book; mine did.) This article is not a "book review" per se, but will examine some principles the book offers - in light of both the Bible, and recent changes in the Church of God.
Without giving away the book's plot, the story is about two mice and two "little people" who seek "cheese" in a maze. The mice care only about the cheese mice normally eat - and when they notice one part of the maze doesn't have it anymore, they race off to search for a new place where it's stored. The two "little people," named Hem and Haw, define "Cheese" as success in life. When that sort of Cheese disappears from their regular spot in the maze, they discuss what to do next - and whether they should go hunting for it in a new location, or stay where they are in a mix of protest and sulking.
One of the book's main points is that change will happen - so you should relax and enjoy it. Yet that might be a point of contention for current and former Worldwide Church of God members. They were taught for decades that God is a Being who does not change - yet they also heard Herbert W. Armstrong quote many times from philosopher Elbert Hubbard: "The only thing constant in life is change." They saw a Church unwavering about the Law of God, then suddenly hear the standards had changed. The dichotomy might leave members asking a basic, yet deep question: is change good or bad?
If we use the Bible as our guide, we might be left even more puzzled. A concordance check shows "change" and related words don't appear that often (and you have to ignore all the times in the King James when a "change" refers to a set of clothing). The most familiar verse for many is Malachi 3:6: "I the Lord do not change." (NIV unless noted) But hold on a minute - why does Daniel say in a prayer of praise: "He changes times and seasons...."? (Dan. 2:21)
The More Things Change....
Perhaps we should start with a dose of humility -- admitting God isn't as simple and "cookie-cutter" as we'd like to make Him out to be. After all, He's a "God of love" (I Jhn. 4:8) - yet He's sometimes quick to punish sinners, in both the Old and New Testament eras (e.g., Lev. 10:1-2; Acts 5:5).
Many examples are scattered through the Bible where God changed His way of doing things -- but His people either didn't pay attention, or resorted to their old habits. One noteworthy example involves Israel's thirst for water:
Scene 1: God tells Moses at Horeb: "Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." (Ex. 17:6) Moses does so, and it apparently works.
Scene 2: In the Desert of Zin, God instructs Moses: "Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water." (Num. 20:7-8) But Moses, apparently annoyed by a complaining people, reverts to the old habit. He strikes the rock without speaking to it. Water does come out, but at a price: Moses and Aaron are disqualified from the promised land (vs. 10-12).
Lesson: God reserves the right to change the way you get Cheese. Move with Him, or risk a penalty. To take a verse such as Malachi 3:6 and make it a universal statement for everything God's ever said and done can be an exaggeration.
Do God and Jesus change?
The United Church of God showed an apparent blind spot on this issue in a recent article, "Would Jesus Keep Easter?" (March-April 2001) The author wrote Jesus would not keep that day -- "But He would be consistent because He does not change (Hebrews 13:8). For instance, He would keep the annual Passover in the same manner as He instructed His followers to keep it (I Cor. 11:23-26; John 13:15-17)."
Can you spot the problem with that passage? Jesus Christ changed the way the Passover is observed -- by introducing new symbols and ceremonies. As far as the New Testament reveals, He changed what He'd personally done His entire adult life. "But Jesus is God, so He can make the rules," you might say. That's true - but it again shows the oversimplicity of the "God never changes" argument.
I e-mailed the UCG Personal Correspondence office about this seeming contradiction. Its clarification was along the same line as my way of thinking: God's character and purpose don't change - but his rules and methods sometimes do.
As my Pastor likes to put it, God gives Himself "plenty of room for flexibility." A great example of this is the law of the priesthood. For years the line went through the Levites (Heb. 7:11). But Jesus became a "priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek" (v. 17, 24) -- and as New York Knick basketball player Charlie Ward recently noted, Jesus came from the tribe of Judah! (v. 14) In this, God carried out a plan He'd drawn up even before the earth was created.
Earlier in Hebrews, we read of God: "You remain the same, and your years will never end." (1:12) This is taken from Psalm 102:26-27, in the context of "lifespan." Humans grow old and die, while God does not. To that extent, our Father does not change.
Another passage in Hebrews explains God with a highly theological-sounding word: He's "immutable," the KJV says. The NIV makes the wording more understandable: "....God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised...." (Heb. 6:17) In this case, God's purpose is to bless the descendants of Abraham (v. 13-14) - although exactly how He's doing it, through whom and when is a matter of denominational dispute.
"By the immutability of God is meant that in His essence, attributes, consciousness and will God is unchangeable.... This does not mean God is immobile, however, for He acts in history. His immutability is dynamic, not static." (Wycliffe's Bible Dictionary, 1975, pg. 836) Assuming this definition is accurate, it raises some questions. Do the Sabbath and Holy Days fit in the four categories Wycliffe mentions? Are they "attributes" of God? My dictionary defines "attribute" as a "quality or characteristic belonging to a person or thing.... an object associated with and serving to identify a character, personage or office." (American Heritage Dictionary, 1975 edition)
This leads us back to a verse mentioned earlier, that says God "changes times and seasons." The Hebrew/Chaldean word for "times" in Daniel 2:21 translates as "a set time; technically a year." (Strong's Concordance, Hebrew word #5732) We understand it five other times in the book of Daniel as meaning "years" (4:16, 23, 25, 32; 7:25b) On the other hand, the beast that tries "to change the set times and the laws" (7:25a) is changing a different word in Hebrew/Chaldean, that's more generic in nature (cf. 2:16; 6:10; 7:22) It appears as "seasons" in 2:21 -- but we must note in honesty that Hebrew word never refers specifically to Holy Days!
Let's take this one more challenging step. Balaam at one point declares: "God is not.... a son of man, that he should change his mind." (Num. 23:19) Yet earlier in the Old Testament, we find "the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened." (Ex. 32:14) "Relented" is the same Hebrew word for "change" in the verse cited above!
The New Bible Commentary: Revised explains it this way: "He changes not His purposes, but a course of events previously threatened, because the altered conduct of His people no longer calls forth what He had originally promised. It is a change in His dealings with people, not a change in His character or His purposes." (1970 ed., p. 137) This can explain, for instance, the delayed punishment of Nineveh when it repented in the wake of Jonah's warning message.
Of Mice and Men
Getting back to the book "Who Moved My Cheese:" should we be like the two mice - racing in a new direction every time there seems to be a cheese shortage? That approach is also too simplistic. In fact, Paul calls it foolish in Romans 1 -- describing some people who "changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.... who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator...." (Rom. 1:21-25, KJV)
Paul's message here is clear: Not every change is godly - thus not every change is good. This is true in the world as much as in the church. Ask anyone who remembers the introduction of "New Coke" in the mid-1980's. Coca-Cola decided it was time to change its secret formula - and the move brought such a public backlash that before long, "Coca-Cola Classic" was back in stores, alongside the new version. (We challenge you to find the new Coke anywhere these days.)
Proverbs also warns against this approach: "....Meddle not with them that are given to change." (Prv. 24:21, KJV) The NIV translation calls those people "the rebellious" - rebelling against God and human leaders.
Hem-ming and Haw-ing
What about Hem and Haw, the little men in the book? They received their version of Cheese at one spot, and felt entitled to getting it there. They sound a bit like a group of people described in the book of Jeremiah:
"Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another - she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged." (Jer. 48:11) Moab has "settled on his lees," as the KJV puts it -- enjoying the cheese in one spot for quite some time. Trouble is, Moab has a false god named Chemosh (v. 7). "'But days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will send men who pour from jars, and they will pour her out; they will empty her jars and smash her jugs.'" (v. 12)
Why? To rephrase an earlier point, God reserves the right to shake up the life of a Hem. It may be surprising to hear God say this, but say it He does: "....I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity." (Zech. 1:15)
But there's a good reason why God acts this way: God wants to change us, to become like His unchangeable nature. Remember that verse back in Numbers 23? "God is not.... a son of man, that he should change his mind," (Num. 23:19; see also I Sam 15:29) The Hebrew word for "change" is in the context of being sorry for something, or repenting of actions. A perfect, holy God has no sin from which to repent (even though King James uses the word "repent" several times in regards to change). Given that understanding, a believer in faith should accept any change ordered by God as good for him or her. "....God's kindness leads you toward repentance...." (Rom. 2:4)
The problem seems to come when we think God is making a change - and He really isn't. Some who left the WCG for spinoff groups use the phrase, "the pillar moved." They refer to the cloud that directed Israel's wandering in the wilderness (Ex. 40:34-38; Num. 9:16-23). But it begs some tough questions, which we'll leave for you to consider.
* Why would the cloud move for some believers or groups, and not others?
* Why did some find change within the WCG, while others changed denominations to "stay the same?"
* Why did the cloud move in different directions, or in different decades?
* Doesn't God want unity in what He does - so all share the same Cheese? (I Cor. 1:10)
Cheese Station K
Spencer Johnson's book deals with the search for "Cheese Station N," where New Cheese awaits those who find it. In the maze of life, believers move toward what we might call "Cheese Station K" - as in the Kingdom of God, where Cheese never ends. As we move through this process, searchers might stop to consider some of the sub-points scattered through Johnson's book:
* "If you do not change, you can become extinct." Biblically true. Scoffers of Noah refused to change, and drowned. Those who refuse to come under Jesus's authority eventually will face a lake of fire.
* "Movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese." Not necessarily. We mentioned the verse in Proverbs, warning against meddling with those given to change. Consider also the people of Israel, who left Egypt seeking new cheese. Some moved toward it at a time when God did not allow - and two opposing groups "came down and attacked them and beat them" for doing so. (Num. 14:40-45)
* "Old beliefs do not lead you to new cheese." False -- although "cheese" in this case is largely in the eye of the beholder. Jesus said, "....Every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." (Matt. 13:52) Even in a coming everlasting Kingdom, God will be able to say, "I am making everything new!" (Rev. 21:5)
I've reached the conclusion that all sides in the WCG doctrine controversy made a change - only different groups did it different ways. As you run through the maze of change -- with some finding New Cheese within their old group, and others changing groups to keep their Old Cheese -- keep one thing in mind: Jesus's return will bring the ultimate change. "The Lord Jesus Christ.... will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Phil. 3:20-21) "The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (I Cor. 15:52)
When the "wedding supper of the Lamb" occurs (Rev. 19:9), I expect a lot of New Cheese - not only at the table, but around it.
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