Garden Variety Conversation

You've seen it before, a room full of teenagers all sitting next to each other but entranced with texting their friends (who may be in the room themselves) on their cell phones. Take that same group and challenge them to initiate an ongoing conversation with their peers face to face and they would be hard pressed. Even more difficult would be the assignment, if they had to have a good conversation with an adult with proper eye contact and good listening skills.

But, before we totally impugned adolescents' lack of manners, I believe it is just a symptom of a deeper problem that plagues children and adults as well. Disconnection is a consequence of sin. Sin separated us from our Creator, destroying the oneness we were created to enjoy. Shame and fear entered the picture as Adam and Eve were driven from the garden and His presence. No longer the walks in paradise conversing with God, completely free from hiding behind any masks or pretense, because they had disobeyed.

"Through the one act of disobedience..." the conversation ceased. But through the One's act of obedience on our behalf we have opportunity to reconnect (Romans 5:12-19). John 15:9-17 gives us a whole new insight into re-connecting:

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."

Loving God is the ultimate goal of life (Matthew 22:37). Jesus lets us know that the friendship with Him is based on a love that is evidenced by obedience. The opposite of what drives us out of relationship - disobedience - is what keeps us in relationship - obedience. "Saved by grace, not by works" holds true, but the evidence of our complete trust in Him is our desire to obey and please Him. As we grow in this relationship with Him, we begin to gain back what Adam had lost. That daily, moment by moment, walking with God - enjoying His company, talking, listening and responding to others and circumstances fully aware of His presence: A Garden of Eden variety conversation!

Spring: Changes & Transformations

Yeah! Spring is here! With a very early Easter this year, I was a little suspect on whether or not Spring had arrived. But as the warm weather holds out, the grass, trees, flowers, shrubs and weeds are in the process of transforming from lifeless brown to rich shades of green and multiple colors.
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In God's design, the process of transformation is a restoring to the order He intended of perfect harmony with Him. Often illustrated by death and rebirth, he is not interested in polishing up the old, but a new start. For transformation to take place, changes will have to take place.
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To transform is to change. However, changes do not necessarily lead to transformation. As George Barna puts in the introduction to Pagan Christianity?, "Are we living in a culture that is so infatuated with change that we have forgotten that the church is about transformations, not mere change?" God calls us to make changes that He directs and empowers.
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In the life of the individual, transformation, centered on becoming like Christ, is the work of the Holy Spirit, who we cooperate with by practicing spiritual disciplines and understanding life events as our training lessons for our infinite life in the kingdom.
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In the life of the church, transformation, centered on being led by Christ, is the work of the Holy Spirit, who we cooperate with by discovering and using our spiritual gifts in the context of a local body of believers, as we carry on the work of Christ in this world in a display of love and unity.
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Bob Roberts, Jr. wrote in his book, Transformation, "The church is at its strongest ever financially, educationally, and politically, even though some would readily disagree on those points. Yet, my fear is that it has become institutionalized and denominationalized to the point where the primary things we ask of people is their money, attendance, and a few hours every quarter to help with a Sunday School project. Tragically, entire denominations and institutions continue to fight old battles (of which most laypeople no longer see the relevance) instead of funneling the trillions of dollars flowing through their systems toward the one goal of making a significant difference in the world. We don't make a difference because the gospel has not made us different as God intended it to do. We are just more religious. We are more worried that our church is not growing than the fact that we are not growing in our walk with God."
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If life transformation is the bottom line, we must as individuals and churches be intentional about the means for transformation. Anything less and we slip back into playing church.