Have you ever asked the why of a practice or a way of thinking and been told: \u201cBecause this is the way things are done around here”. A simplified illustration of a research project performed in the 1960s on a group of monkeys by G. R. Stephenson reminds us of why we perform in certain ways and believe certain things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all the other monkeys with cold water.<\/em> After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result – all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it from doing so.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new monkey. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Next,\nremove one more of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The\nnewcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part\nin the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey\nwith a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey\ntakes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him\nhave no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are\nparticipating in the beating of the newest monkey.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n After replacing all of the original monkeys, none of the new monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know, that’s the way it’s always been done around here\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now I\u2019m not\nsuggesting for a moment that we are like monkeys, nevertheless that is how cultural\nbelief is formed: Acceptable and unacceptable behaviours are initially\nestablished in response to important external events but, over time, all that\nremains are strongly-held notions about what is and what isn’t acceptable. The\norigins of these beliefs vanish with the departure of the members of the group\nwho were present when the patterns and standards were initially established. In\na church that has been around for a long time, there may be no members left who\nknow why a given belief or behaviour is considered acceptable or unacceptable.\nYet all members are quick to enforce the belief or behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I share with people a way of making disciples that is different from the way it’s being done, I encounter all sorts of reactions \u2013 from strong resistance to some acceptance. But the deeper I go into this new way of looking at discipleship, the more I encounter the old ways of thinking that are very entrenched and outworked in behaviour. They are so natural that people have no idea where they originated. As I share, people make comments like: \u201cI think I understand what you are saying but I simply don\u2019t know anyone who actually says that, and believes it enough to act on it.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We are all\ncontinuing to do the same things we have always done with the same inadequate\noutcomes.\u2019 The accepted ways of thinking that are being uncovered are of\nseveral types:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me give you\nanother example. There is a belief that discipleship begins in the church,\nafter a person has been \u2018saved\u2019 or, in some traditions, from their birth into\nthe church. This widely-held belief may be important for discipleship within\nour families but will work against us in a world where fewer people acknowledge\nthe place of Jesus or the church in their lives. In fact many see Christianity\nas irrelevant. If we are to serve Jesus well, we need to engage people in the\ndiscipleship process as we go about our day-to-day living. For some this will\nbe a huge step to take. We all have connections with people as we live our\nnormal lives with family, friends, work and leisure acquaintances. This is\nwhere we begin to listen to the Holy Spirit and keep our eyes open for those in\nwhom we see Jesus working. It is my belief that God is still seeking the lost\nand He outworks His mission through us as we go. We are not looking for scalps\nor souls but we are engaging in real relationships with people, as holistically\nas possible, as they walk towards Jesus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever asked the why of a practice or a way of thinking and been told: \u201cBecause this is the way things are done around here”. A simplified illustration of a research project performed in the 1960s on a group of monkeys by G. R. Stephenson reminds us of why we perform in certain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n