'If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him' (James 1:5).

There are so many times where wisdom is needed, and to know if we ask God gives, assists our perseverance in ministry. This is a great comfort and assurance, especially when two opposite but equally true statements can be made. 

One of the areas where I really need this wisdom from above is in knowing that while a leopard is unable to change its spots, the Holy Spirit is powerfully at work in believers to transform them from their core.

Both of these are true.

In fact both of them are true about an individual. Sometimes things just don't change. But at other times, for the same person, radical change is seen.

The Spirit is more powerful than our behaviours. But some behaviours are so engrained that they are almost impossible to break. We even have a word for this: recidivism. 

Assumptions amongst friends

These issues are intensified in settings where people know each other well; which is the case in Christian circles.

In Sydney we have the privilege of knowing and regularly rubbing shoulders with each other. Clergy study together, attend conferences together and meet to pray. Congregation members see each other at conferences, at missionary gatherings, and often go on short term overseas and local missions with each other. All this means we know each other's history.

A consequence is that we can so easily put a person in a fixed box: certain we know what they believe and how they operate. We never let them out of this box, or re-assess whether our assessment is still correct. 

This came home strongly to me this week. I was having chat with friend of mine, a female deacon, about the fact that people sometimes had falsely viewed her theological position on men and women as Egalitarian and not Complementarian. (Complementarianism says men and women are equal but different).

She is in fact complementarian in theology, but others had wrongly assumed she wasn't.

We concluded it was because of some of her ministry connections and relationships. The reasons for the circles she moved in were historical. In her lovely naivety she thought that her actions in only teaching women would show what she believed.but it didn't.

This wrong assumption has been hard on her and undermines a position she is committed to. 

Some suggestions

So what do we do about this?

    "¢ continue to pray for wisdom

    "¢ it is inevitable that we make assumptions about others, but work hard to assess properly. Don't assume a person holds a position or can't change. Talk to them. I observe in myself how easy it is to ascribe guilt by association: the group you move in dictates what you think and how you act.

    "¢ work at watching what is happening in another, and ask questions rather than assuming a person will never change.