09.17.2006

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will know what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Ephesians 4:22-24 (see also Col 3:9-10); 5:8-10
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

Hello everyone-

Before I get started, I’ve added a handful of people (Team Philly) to the list so here’s an explination.. Howdy. This is Yvonne, and the Weekly Thing is a weekly email that I send out for the purpose of encouraging/challenging brothers and sisters in Christ… usually through a collection of my observances, readings, experiences, etc. If you’d rather not be on this list, just let me know!

At the end of this week, I went to my very first Staff Seminar as new staff with the CCO. I learned a lot, and I got to see again the fantastic people that I lived with over New Staff Training (although I didn’t get to talk with many of them as much as I wanted to… yes, this is a shout-out to all of you). It was pretty awesome, and the things God had to teach us through the speakers were great.
But this isn’t really about the seminar, rather it is about a key idea that was brought up: transformation.
Now, usually when I hear the word “transform” I immediately think about the popular cartoon called Transformers, which had various spin-offs. I’d be shocked if anyone in this crowd doesn’t know what it is, but to be brief, a Transformer is a robot that would transform back and forth into vehicles or other things to be – well – in disguise. To have that kind of association really shows that I’m a product of television. But I digress. When the Bible talks about something being “transformed,” it talks about a complete and total change that does not revert back to a previous state.
The example of a butterfly or other metamorphosizing creatures seems to be an appropriate example of our lives as Christians. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is the popular connection: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Even if you’ve grown up in a church your whole life, there is still a proclamation of faith that draws a line between the old and the new. Yet, although this is a profound truth, sometimes it is hard to see because we look more like a Transformer than we do a Butterfly.

It may be cooler for some of you to be called a Transformer instead of a Butterfly, which I totally understand, but hopefully I won’t lose you in trying to make the analogy work.

The fact is that we constantly go back and forth between falling into sin and staying on the path. I can be doing really great one day, totally pacing with God; then the next day struggling to fight against sin or failing to acknowledge sin completely. The latter are the days that I know I feel like a dirty rotten scoundrel, hiding behind the husk of the old self hoping no one noticed the lapse. Like a robot to something else, we go between the Old Self and the New Self... we tend to hang onto or pick up again the habits that belonged to the old self. If you don’t know what the Old Self even looks like, I would suggest looking to the Bible for some answers or asking someone you think could help you look.

We are called to be completely transformed and to toss the Old Self out the window. A butterfly, or other critter like it, starts out one way and ends up totally different. The kicker to it all is that a butterfly absolutely cannot go back to being a caterpillar. As crazy as it sounds, God is telling us to be the same way! Hard to do? You better believe it. Not just that but it is impossible to do without Christ as the center of our world. However, as crazy as it is, you and I are to strive to be changed and no longer act as someone who doesn’t know Christ. Our actions, thoughts, motives, speech and everything else about our human existence is called to be conformed towards Christ-likeness. On one hand I would like to encourage those who question their New-ness in Christ, and on the other hand I would like to challenge all of us (including myself) to seek total transformation and not become lax. If it is your goal and your prayer, your earnest desire to be changed, the change will happen. And, the change will finally be completed when we get to see God in all His awesome glory.

I pray that the Lord through the Spirit would continually be changing our lives, transforming us by the renewing of our minds so that we can become more like Christ so that He would be more evident to those who don’t know Him. I also pray that the Spirit would give us strength to fight temptation and the knowledge to know when we have sinned so that we may be humbled. May we have grace with one another, knowing that we are all in a process of transformation, and be unified in love as children of God.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne