By QuaWanna Bannarbie

Last week, I highlighted how much Suffolk is changing and growing all around us. In the closing of that column, I challenged the reader to consider what the changes in the territory around us should mean to the people in our city, particularly as change relates to personal transformation. I have a question for you: Do you have skin in the game? What game exactly? I am referring to the business of personal growth. Are you developing your own skin?

The statement “skin in the game” refers to whether you have a personal stake in an investment. The word “skin” could easily be replaced with “self,” and the word “game” could easily be replaced with anything that you have made or are making a personal contribution. Have you staked yourself in the places where you are contributing?

The more I thought about the transformation in Suffolk, a familiar parable in the Bible came to mind. Jesus is speaking in Matthew 9:16-17, saying, “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” This teaching refers to the gospel of Jesus Christ and how His good news does not and will never conform to this world and old thinking or doctrine. Rather the good news preserves us, and the spirit of God extends us to new limits.

Inanimate objects around us are being preserved and displaying growth above the people. A shiny new housing community should not shine brighter than our children. But I suppose it seems easier to develop a building than a boy. It takes much effort to bring people out of a familiar and comfortable place. Ask Moses. Or closer to home, ask the directors on the board of a nearby neighborhood association who purchased new playground equipment only to discover graffiti on the slides and structures of the equipment within weeks of its installation. This indicates that people who are not growing will not properly appreciate the transformation of things around them.

The invitation to “Come Grow” is begging the question whether we want to look like a developing community on the outside or whether we want to be a developing community on the inside. The new wine can only be carried in new wineskins because when expansion that happens during fermentation takes place, the new wine will be lost because the wineskins will be destroyed. God wants to give us new stuff. He does. But we cannot manage what He gives if we are not willing to transform, develop and grow ourselves as well as sponsor personal development in our schools, workplaces and places of worship.

Every one of us has some way that we can personally improve, whether it’s education, practical skills, relationship building, community service, and so on. We should do personal assessments to identify in what ways our individual improvements can have a direct impact to preserve the territory around us. It’s time to put self in Suffolk.

QuaWanna Bannarbie is an adjunct professor of nonprofit leadership and management with Indiana Wesleyan University, National and Global. Her children attend Suffolk Public Schools. Connect with her via Twitter @QNikki_Notes.