How to Distinguish Between Faithfulness and Obstinacy in Methods

When perseverance becomes spiritually justified stubbornness

The king who believed he was faithful

Saul was convinced he had been faithful to God. He had attacked the Amalekites as commanded, achieved a great victory, even organized sacrifices to the Lord with part of the spoil. In his mind he had substituted partial obedience with spiritual creativity, faithfulness to principles with adaptation of methods.

When Samuel confronted him, Saul couldn't understand the problem. "I did what God wanted, just in a different way." But God through Samuel was clear: "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22, NIV). Faithfulness to commandments is worth more than creativity in approaches.

Saul had confused faithfulness with obstinacy. He had mistaken innovation for disobedience and disobedience for wisdom.

The same confusion paralyzes many communities today—leaders who call "faithfulness" what is stubbornness, and members who call "tradition" what is spiritual laziness.

The thin line that changes everything

There's a razor-thin line between biblical faithfulness and human obstinacy, and many leaders never learn to distinguish it. They call "faithfulness" what is inability to adapt, and "perseverance" what is refusal to learn.

The result? Churches that die slowly while leaders convince themselves they're martyrs of doctrinal purity.

But members also contribute to this paralysis. You cling to traditions that no longer work calling them "faithfulness to origins." You resist necessary changes saying "we've always done it this way." You confuse nostalgia with spirituality, routine with revelation.

David, unlike Saul, modeled true faithfulness. When God forbade him to build the temple, he didn't insist saying "But Lord, my intention was good, the project is for Your glory." He accepted the change of plans and adapted to the new role God had assigned him: preparing materials for Solomon.

Faithfulness to principles, flexibility in methods.

The test that reveals everything

Here's how to distinguish between authentic faithfulness and disguised obstinacy:

Obstinacy focuses on form. Faithfulness focuses on substance.

Obstinacy says: "The method is sacred." Faithfulness says: "The message is sacred."

Obstinacy resists change on principle. Faithfulness resists compromise on principle.

The brutal test for leaders: if a method no longer produces the results it was created for, but you continue using it "for faithfulness," you're confusing human tradition with divine commandment.

If your programs are no longer building the church but you maintain them because "that's how it's always been done," you're not being faithful to God—you're being faithful to your habits.

The parallel test for members: if you resist every change in the church saying "it's not like it used to be," you're worshiping the past instead of following God in the present.

If your first reaction to every innovation is "but haven't we always done it differently?", you're serving tradition instead of serving the Lord.

Paul: the master of flexible faithfulness

Paul modeled this principle to perfection: "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22, NIV). He never changed the Gospel, but changed everything else: language, approach, context, methods.

He was inflexible on principles and supremely flexible on processes.

He preached in synagogues to Jews and in marketplaces to Gentiles. He used Greek philosophy in Athens and personal testimony in Jerusalem. He quoted pagan poets when it served and Hebrew Scriptures when appropriate.

But the message remained identical: Christ crucified and risen.

Methods changed with culture. The message transcended every culture.

This is true faithfulness: being so sure of the core that you can be flexible on the surface.

Jesus: the faithful innovator

Jesus himself modeled this creative faithfulness. He never changed the Father's message, but continuously revolutionized methods. Sometimes he preached to thousands from mountains, sometimes he spoke to one person alone beside a well.

He used parables with crowds and direct statements with disciples. He healed with saliva, with touch, with words, from a distance.

He drove merchants from the temple with a whip and washed disciples' feet with tenderness. He was fierce with hypocritical religious leaders and gentle with repentant sinners.

Methods varied according to situation. The mission remained unchangeable.

If Jesus himself never bound himself to a fixed method, why should you?

The vicious cycle of immobilism

When leaders become rigid about methods and members cling to traditions, a vicious cycle is created that slowly kills spiritual vitality.

The pastor, seeing that members resist changes, stops proposing innovations. Members, seeing that the pastor proposes nothing new, convince themselves the problem is "the world changing too fast."

The leader becomes conservative to avoid disturbing. Believers become nostalgic to avoid growing.

Both call this paralysis "faithfulness". But God calls it spiritual death.

The result? Communities that increasingly resemble museums rather than living organisms. Places where the past is preserved instead of the future being built.

The hidden fear behind obstinacy

But why is it so difficult to distinguish between faithfulness and obstinacy? Because behind obstinacy there's always a fear.

For leaders, it's fear of losing control. "If I change methods, maybe I'll lose authority. If I admit some approaches no longer work, maybe people will think I don't know what I'm doing."

For members, it's fear of losing identity. "If the church changes too much, it won't be 'my' church anymore. If methods evolve, maybe I won't recognize myself in this community anymore."

But here's the truth that liberates: true identity isn't in methods—it's in mission. True security doesn't come from traditions—it comes from faithfulness to God.

When you're secure in WHO you're serving, you can be flexible in HOW you serve Him.

When you're rooted in eternity, you can navigate time with creativity.

Symptoms of disguised obstinacy

How do you recognize when you're mistaking obstinacy for faithfulness?

Leadership symptoms:

• You defend methods that no longer produce positive results
• You justify ineffectiveness saying "but it's the right way to do things"
• You resist honest evaluations of your approaches
• You interpret every change suggestion as an attack on doctrine

Member symptoms:

• Your most frequent phrase is "but we used to do it this way"
• You judge every innovation as "compromise with the world"
• You prefer familiarity to effectiveness
• You confuse emotional comfort with spiritual correctness

Community symptoms:

• "Young people" leave because "they don't recognize themselves in the church anymore"
• "Older people" complain that "it's not like before"
• No one grows spiritually but everyone feels "faithful"
• The church functions like a nostalgic club instead of a spiritual hospital

The moment of truth

But there comes a moment in every community's life—maybe this is that moment for yours—when you must make a choice that will determine everything:

Will you continue serving methods that once served God?

Or will you have courage to serve God even when He requires new methods?

Will you continue calling "faithfulness" what is actually fear of change?

Or will you recognize that true faithfulness sometimes requires courage to let go of what no longer works?

Because here's the most uncomfortable truth of all: maybe your church isn't dying because the world has become more evil. Maybe it's dying because you've become more rigid.

Maybe the problem isn't that "people no longer respect sacred things." Maybe the problem is that you've made sacred things that aren't.

Maybe the decline isn't a sign you're maintaining purity. Maybe it's a sign you're suffocating life.

The last chance

David was eighty years old when God told him he wouldn't build the temple. Eighty years of dreams, projects, preparations. He could have rebelled: "But Lord, I've dedicated my life to this! I've made all the plans! I've gathered the materials!"

Instead he wrote: "The Lord has chosen my son Solomon to build the house of the Lord" (1 Chronicles 28:6, NIV).

No bitterness. No obstinacy. No attachment to his own methods.

Only faithfulness to God's will, even when that will changed his plans.

Solomon's temple was more glorious than anything David could have built. Not because Solomon was better, but because David had courage to let go of his vision to embrace God's.

And you? Do you have David's courage?

Or will you continue building temples God never asked for, with methods God no longer blesses, for traditions God doesn't recognize as His?

The questions you can't avoid

Leaders: If God told you today that you must completely change your ministry approach, would you have courage to do it even if it meant publicly admitting that some methods you've defended for years weren't His?

Members: If God called your church to completely new methods to reach your generation, would you be willing to let go of traditions that make you feel at home to embrace changes that might disturb but bring life?

Everyone together: Are you serving God through your methods, or serving your methods in God's name?

Because in the end, this is the only question that matters.

Everything else is noise. Everything else is excuse. Everything else is obstinacy disguised as faithfulness.

But when you have courage to answer this question honestly—when you stop serving traditions and start serving the living God—then you'll discover something wonderful:

God hasn't finished writing your church's story.

He's just waited for you to stop being in love with the past to show you the future He's prepared.

A future that requires your faithfulness, but not your obstinacy.

A future that honors His eternal truths through methods fresh as morning dew.

The choice is yours. But you can't postpone forever.

Because God is already writing the next page. With you or without you.

The final question is simple: Do you want to be part of the story God is writing, or do you want to remain a museum of the story God has already written?