Of Upgrades and Miracles
Does God really transform people?
That is the question that lies at the center of the study that Sheila and I will be teaching in class for the next eight weeks.
If you treat it as a "Bible class" question, its easy to answer. The New Testament is practically bursting with passages that say "yes," passages that can easily be used to fill in the blanks on an appropriately formatted study sheet.
But that isn't what I mean when I ask the question. What I mean is: do we really believe its true? Thats not a good "Bible class" question, because it seeks to bridge the gap between doctrine and action. Its easy to sit in a chair with pencil, paper, and Bible in hand, trying to get the "correct" answers. Its another thing to ponder whether you truly expect the promises of scripture to make their way into your life.
And if you start asking yourself this question. I mean, seriously start thinking about its implications - those implications are staggering. Shake the casing on this question for long enough, and it will explode in your face like a nuclear bomb.
John Eldredge, who does an amazing job of posing this same question in Waking the Dead, puts it this way: When it comes to understanding the difference between who we are and who we need to become, we don't need an upgrade, we need a miracle.
I don't want to dis the notion that spiritual transformation will often come in small increments. But we live in a church culture that looks too much like the world. Its become comfortable to think that scripture's promise of transformation is - at best - about making small, comfortable, and occasional upgrades to our character. Scripture, on the other hand, shows a dramatically different picture: prostitutes become penitent worshippers, tax collectors start climbing trees and giving away money, fishermen cast out demons, murderous Pharisees become preachers to Gentiles.
Why shouldn't we expect to be transformed in ways that are equally as absurd?
As I said: better be very careful about this question. It may blow up in your face.
That is the question that lies at the center of the study that Sheila and I will be teaching in class for the next eight weeks.
If you treat it as a "Bible class" question, its easy to answer. The New Testament is practically bursting with passages that say "yes," passages that can easily be used to fill in the blanks on an appropriately formatted study sheet.
But that isn't what I mean when I ask the question. What I mean is: do we really believe its true? Thats not a good "Bible class" question, because it seeks to bridge the gap between doctrine and action. Its easy to sit in a chair with pencil, paper, and Bible in hand, trying to get the "correct" answers. Its another thing to ponder whether you truly expect the promises of scripture to make their way into your life.
And if you start asking yourself this question. I mean, seriously start thinking about its implications - those implications are staggering. Shake the casing on this question for long enough, and it will explode in your face like a nuclear bomb.
John Eldredge, who does an amazing job of posing this same question in Waking the Dead, puts it this way: When it comes to understanding the difference between who we are and who we need to become, we don't need an upgrade, we need a miracle.
I don't want to dis the notion that spiritual transformation will often come in small increments. But we live in a church culture that looks too much like the world. Its become comfortable to think that scripture's promise of transformation is - at best - about making small, comfortable, and occasional upgrades to our character. Scripture, on the other hand, shows a dramatically different picture: prostitutes become penitent worshippers, tax collectors start climbing trees and giving away money, fishermen cast out demons, murderous Pharisees become preachers to Gentiles.
Why shouldn't we expect to be transformed in ways that are equally as absurd?
As I said: better be very careful about this question. It may blow up in your face.
posted by Matt at Saturday, October 02, 2004
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