Transformation

In the circles I run in, “transformation” is something to desire and seek after. It’s kind of a buzzword or spiritual jargon. Transformation seems to imply something stronger than change – sort of a complete makeover. Jesus reinforces this idea of a need for change with statements like “I tell you the truth, unless you change…” It all sounds so radical.

Change is a hard thing. People pay lots of money for someone to help them change. Interestingly, many of them still resist the process. In the church, this idea of transformation is regularly put out there as needed and possible, but I don’t recall any significant instruction or examples of how to make it happen. Slow change is inevitable in life, but transformation implies something more radical than slow change. How do big changes in our life happen?

One view, the one that I seemed to hold through much of my Christian life, is that there was nothing you could do, it all had to come from God. I am not sure where that notion came from. This approach is passive, other than the asking part. So, I waited, and waited, and waited…for grace to “rain down.” I wish it happened that way. I am sure it could happen that way, unfortunately, I don’t observe it. From an empirical standpoint, I would have to advise against this approach.

Dallas Willard was the first one to break me of this passive mind set, at least as it related to spiritual change. He argued that grace and effort were compatible (effort was not equal to earning). He would say, “Surely you can do nothing without God, but if you do nothing, it will most certainly be without Him.” Funny thing was, I did not take this passive approach to change in other areas of my life. I changed my fitness level by actually exercising. I gained knowledge by reading. I got better at writing by writing. I developed some compassion by actually confronting injustice.

I have several big changes I have made in my life that led to a sort of transformation. I will post about them next.