Do you feel like busting another myth? Good, let’s do it!

There are certain things that become popular memes and ideas because leaders — both Christian and secular — state them over and over again as fact even though they are false. By so doing, they plant in our minds myths that are not only NOT beneficial for us, but sometimes can result in harm.

One such idea is the constant mantra that “change is hard.”

It can be.

Sometimes it’s the hardest thing you’ll experience in your life.

But OFTEN — let me repeat, OFTEN! — change can be fascinating, exciting, exhilarating, interesting, joyful, preferred, wanted, longed for, and yes, even FUN!

You almost NEVER hear about that side of change, do you?

Here’s the sad news — not hearing the good part about change can harm us.

By being so persistent and INSISTENT that “change is hard,” we CONDITION people to believe that change is hard; and when we do that, we TEACH people to MAKE change hard!

Let me give you a real example of how this has happened with a very popular myth heavily perpetuated by mainstream media and by preachers directly from the pulpit. We routinely hear church leaders talk about how marriage is hard, after all, the divorce rate in America is 50 percent, and just as bad within the church.

Wrong!

The truth is, the divorce rate in America has NEVER been 50 percent, or even close to it! The divorce rate among those in the church is less than the general population! AND, a large majority of married couples say they’re at least reasonably happy in their marriages! This myth about the divorce rate was not only popped, but trampled in the book, “The Good News About Marriage,” which features critical research conducted over several years by Harvard-trained Christian researcher, Shaunti Feldhahn (you can read my review about the book here). But with our persistent and insistent teaching that the divorce rate is 50 percent, we have conditioned people to believe that marriage is very hard, and that they have only a 50/50 chance of their marriage making it. Creating such a mindset has led many to question the value of marrying at all, and considering that maybe just living together without the “hardship” of marriage is a better idea.

Perpetuating myths harm people, educating people with the truth can save people. Here’s just one example:

In Madagascar’s east coast city of Tamatave, a local taboo against having a toilet in your house or on your land has complicated the task of trying to improve the region’s dire sanitation situation.

“Nationwide, more than 10,000 people, of whom two-thirds are children under five, die prematurely from diarrhea annually, according to the World Health Organization, which attributes 88 percent of these cases to poor quality water and sanitation.

According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 7.4 million Malagasy who lack latrines defecate along beaches and rivers which are used for drinking water.

Overcoming local taboos and convincing people that they need latrines has required some drastic measures. “Our trainers go to the villagers and offer them water with excrement in it to drink. When they refuse, they take them to the river and show them that this is what they drink every day,” said one aid worker.

Once a village has decided to be part of the process of improving sanitation, aid workers start a program called Community-Led Total Sanitation, which encourages households to find their own ways and means of constructing latrines, often by helping them obtain loans from micro-credit institutions.

It’s a campaign with an ambitious goal. UNICEF and the Ministry of Water aims to reduce the 32 percent of Madagascar’s population who currently practice open defecation to less than 1 percent by 2018” (source unidentified).

Not all change is good, not all change is easy, but so much of change is valuable, even priceless and necessary.

As Christians, our LIFE is one of constant change — that of being changed over our lifetimes to become more and more like Jesus …

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ,” Ephesians 4:11-13.

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image,” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

If we’re going to spend our lives in a state of ongoing change, do we really want to condition ourselves — or allow someone to condition us — into thinking that “change is hard”? Or, at least, that ALL change is hard?

It’s not!

What if, instead of perpetuating the myth that “change is hard” we, instead, taught people to embrace change and learn how to enjoy the adventure of transformation? I’m not talking about hiding the fact that, AT TIMES, change can be very difficult. But so often, it can be a rich blessing, a grand adventure, and a reason to praise God!

Shall we consider this myth busted?

Scotty