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.
~
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.
~
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.
~
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.
~
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.
~
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."
~
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.