External Structure or Authoritarian Abuse?

Dr. Henry Cloud, a world class author, psychologist, and speaker at the 2011 Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit (GLS) writes about the necessity of exterior structure when pursuing personal change. During his session at the GLS, he explained how our minds create a hard-wired neural map when we develop habits. According to Cloud, our brain cells and brain chemistry physiologically create preferred pathways for thoughts and feelings that support our most frequently used, and most cherished habits. For the reason, according to Dr. Cloud, creating habits takes time and changing habits takes even longer.

One of my favorite reality shows illustrates this truth for 16 weeks, twice a year. The Biggest Loser follows 16 morbidly obese individuals through a life changing boot camp. They are challenged to change their lifestyle, eating habits and personal choices. They often have to confront emotional wounds that have helped create or reinforce their overweight lifestyle. As a result, contestants stagger upward along a difficult path toward a new life and become a physically fit, athletic person. The changes they achieve are astounding, and I am inspired by every episode.

In addition to changing that they eat, the Biggest Loser world class trainers invade their teams members' personal space - yelling, challenging, confronting - sometimes encouraging and all the time demanding that the contestants do new things – regardless of how they feel, or how much they whine and complain. Once the contestants begin to see the change in themselves, a light switch goes off. Trainers yell less and encourage more. The neural paths Dr. Cloud writes about are broken, and the external structure become internal desire. Contestants form new neural maps and are physically and emotionally transformed.

Real, lasting transformation takes time, energy and often periods of external structure. I watched my son face this challenging growth curve during his time on the Honor Academy campus, and am glad that he received the structure and push that he needed to obey the Apostle Paul's words: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice . . . Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind . . .”(Rom 12.1-2). I'm glad that an organization like the Honor Academy hasn't bowed to the world's ideas that real discipleship can be brought about by being friends, having great relationships, and simply loving others along a spiritual growth curve. Sometime it takes a crisis. Sometimes it takes a friend not willing to let you compromise yourself any more. Like Cloud and The Biggest Loser trainers know, sometimes it takes someone who invades your space – and demands you push yourself past self imposed limits to find a new revelation of God's love and resources.

Jesus used this same approach now and then. I read in the Gospels that one night Jesus sent his disciples across the Sea of Galilee in a small fishing boat – directly into the path of an oncoming storm. The writer records that Jesus stayed on the hill overlooking the turbulent waters as his friend struggled against the wind for half the night. Would a friend do this? Yes, a real Friend will allow and even create a crisis before stepping in with a solution. Sometimes it takes the crisis for me to realize I have to change, that I have to obey God if I want to be in a place where He can work in and through my life.

For those who would call this leadership style abusive, or fault the Honor Academy for pushing their interns spiritually, physically, emotionally and relationally, I wonder what they are holding onto that they don't see the Jesus of the Bible - Savior, Healer, Friend and Lord.