THE MOST DIFFICULT OF THESE IS...

When Martin Luther took the Church to task centuries ago, he did so because he knew the Church needed quite a bit of reforming. There was much corruption on the part of the leaders of the Church and much ignorance on the part of the people of the Church. It is hard to say either which party needed the more reforming or which reformation was the more difficult to do.

It would be easy to speculate that the more difficult task was to reform the hierarchy. Once one comes into power, one is very reluctant to give up that power and to change the order of that power. Self-security is a powerful incentive. History affirms that Luther's greatest opposition came from the hierarchy, so much so that he and his followers eventually split from the Church, although that was certainly not his original intention. He simply wanted to reform it.

But unless I miss my guess, in the end, the hierarchy was a piece of cake when compared to the job that needed to be done with the laity of the Church. Both reformations, clergy and laity, demanded conversion: a turning away from the old ways and turning to new ways or, certainly, back to the original ways Jesus laid out to live out our faith in him. It has always been that way and always will.

And no matter how much we want to make that conversion, it is never easy, nor is it supposed to be: not then, not now, not ever. It is always hard work. Luther knew this. He knew the difficulty. He once observed: "There are three conversions necessary: the heart, the mind, and the purse." Now unless I miss my second guess, I would assert that the most difficult conversion to make is that of the purse.

Conversion of heart and mind are interior conversions. Conversion of purse is an exterior conversion.  The former leads to the latter. We can have a true change of heart and mind when it comes to matters of the pocketbook. But to put that change of heart into practice is often most difficult, the most difficult conversion to make. And it is not just a matter of the heart. We must also be convinced that the conversion we need to make is the right thing to do.

We may, for instance, be intellectually convinced that we should – dare I use the word? –tithe. And we may be convinced in our hearts that that is what we want to do. But when it comes to putting pen to check, ah, that is most difficult. It is as if someone suddenly grabs are hand and makes it immobile. The mind says, "Write it!" The heart says, "It's the right thing to do." But the hand says, "I can't."

Who's in control here? Good question. I don't know why the conversion of purse is so difficult, the most difficult of all. How much is or is not in that purse does not seem to matter: Luther's followers were not wealthy. So tell me, why is the conversion of purse so, so, so difficult? Is it not so often not a matter of “I can’t” rather than a matter of “I won’t”? That pertains not only to the matter of the purse but to all conversions. “I want to. I know I should. But….”