Those Being Transformed

Today's entry is actually lifted from a message I hope to share tomorrow morning and draws on a previous entry. I have "grown some" since I last covered this topic, I trust, and below is the fruit of that. This is in outline form--my apologies, I am helping to babysit grandchildren today and didn't want to take time away from Charlie and the munchkins to rework this. The main question being answered below is "What do people whose lives are truly being transformed have in common with one another?"

People who live lives that are being transformed...

·       Have experienced the basics (see Hebrews 6:1-2). They have been truly reborn from above through repentance and trusting in Jesus alone. They have marked this by being baptized in water, and have also been filled with the Holy Spirit. These are the starting points, the "bare minimum" requirements for transformation, I think, because they are what every believer in New Testament times had experienced.

·       Live in increasing intimacy with God. In my mind this is the key to everything else. Living loved and listening, drawn ever more deeply into a constant love-infused awareness of Father's Presence is the source of everything else. This is supported by:

o   Learning to really “grasp grace.” (Grace that Embraces and Empowers). The indispensable requirement for true transformation is a heart-impacting, paradigm-shifting experience of the scandal of God's grace. Until we "get" how outrageous God's grace really is—that it is His very nature to express it continually, that it means we as believers are always and continually eligible for everything, that we are unconditionally and specifically loved, etc., we cannot possibly lay hold of the power of grace to change us. Ephesians 2:8-9 is always true! Romans 8:31-39 also seems appropriate: God is completely for us from this point on, and nothing can separate us from His love.

o   Learning to truly hear God and live listening! John 10:27, Romans 8:14 are in the present tense. Intimate relationship with anyone requires two-way communication, and our relationship with God is no different, of course. And it brings with it the additional aspect of surrender to the leadership of the One who loves us most and knows all things. (We cannot be led if we cannot hear and will not follow.)

o   Learning to live trusting. Biblical faith is trusting, not just believing and is relational not transactional. J.P. Moreland describes faith as “confidence, trust, reliance.” (In Search of a Confident Faith)

o   Learning to live "filled with the Spirit." Most western churches, no matter what their form, fail to provide New Testament levels of the power of God. Unless we are saturated, marinated, permeated, inundated by God's Spirit, we cannot possibly really know what it means to live a life that is "led by the Spirit." Jesus told the Apostles to wait until they were "clothed with power from on high" before starting their mission (Luke 24:49). Living "clothed with power" makes for radical transformation both personally and "environmentally" and is not, in my opinion, optional for those who wish to be transformed and also be "transformers" of the people and culture around them.

·       Live in open, transparent, safety-giving community. Yes, these kinds of relational jewels exist, but they are not often found in the things that "church" typically offers. They are found among those who may be part of church but who hunger for more than shallow, pretend relationships. It is in this kind of relational community that we experience life-on-life discipleship. Transformation requires relationship with other believers who are willing to sacrifice in order to pour life into others and who are willing to be transparent and vulnerable. When Jesus told His disciples, "As you go, make disciples..." they thought of what they had experienced. That experience of living life on life, translated into today's culture, still changes lives as deeply as it did then.

·       Understand that merely agreeing with Scriptural truth changes nothing whereas Holy Spirit-led and empowered, trust-filled response to Scriptural truth changes everything. Matthew 7:24-27, James 1:22-25 are two of many scriptures that come to mind here.

·       Do whatever it takes to get healed up! Christians who are walking wounded and "packing critters" cannot possibly mature as they long to until at least the major life wounds are healed and any critters are evicted.

·       Live in giving mode rather than consumer mode. Much of our approach to ministry encourages people to act like consumers rather than transmitters of grace. For example, when the early church gathered, "each one" brought something to give away (see 1 Corinthians 14:26 for just one example of this). I wonder how a return to this thinking would change "church as we know it." What if every believer was trained to be a transmitter rather than just a receiver? Just wondering.... :-)

·       Recognize that transformation is a journey, not a repair project. Deep change, even in the context of all of these things, doesn't happen overnight. I am quite sure that some of the immaturity we see among believers is simply due to their giving up at some point. Yet the Bible is noticeably consistent in its encouraging us not to give up. Joseph waited 13 years for his purpose to begin to reveal itself, the Apostle Paul waited about 15 years, even the first apostles required 3 years of intensive care with Jesus Himself for them to be changed enough to be trusted with their mission. You get the point, I trust. Fruit (Galatians 5:22-23, John 15, etc.) grows over time--it cannot be instantly manufactured, and nothing of true value comes without process (and often, some pain).

Now the question of response lies before us, eh? I will leave that to you and the Holy Spirit in this blog format. The questions Papa may want to ask us are contained in the body of the outline above, methinks. For me, I am compelled to press on and in, more aware than ever of my being drawn, not driven, invited not coerced, empowered not shamed by the One who loves me most. What else can I do but keep on following?

Tom, one of His "being transformed" children.