Did you know God is in the transformation business? One of my favorite passages in the Bible is 2 Cor. 5: 17 -"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." When we give our lives to Jesus Christ, our old nature is gone, and we become a brand new creation. You and I can rejoice that the persons we were before we invited Christ into our lives no longer exists. The Spirit of God has entered our lives which enables us to become brand new people. The last verse in that chapter, v. 21, explains how this happens. Paul writes, "For he made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." God provided everything necessary for our transformation. We only have to receive it.
But, God doesn't stop there. There is still more transformation He wants to do in our lives. In Romans 8: 28 we find these words, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." In other words, God wants us to become like Jesus. Talk about transformation! First, God takes us from our old lifestyles and makes us brand new creatures, and then He wants to continue that transformation process by shaping us into the image of Jesus Christ. The first transformation happens the moment we invite Christ into our lives to be our Lord and Savior. The second transformation is a life-long process that will never be fully completed this side of eternity. But, the more we yield to God's desire to shape our lives the more we will become like Christ.
What God wants to do in our personal lives He also wants to do in our churches. Unfortunately, many churches are uninterested in transformation. They are content to drift along keeping the stakeholders happy. While they may voice a desire to grow or to see changes occur in their church, many of them will resist any real change that is proposed. The ones eager to see transformation begin to drift away to other churches tired of fighting a losing battle. The church continues its decline until one day someone realizes there is no one left, and another church closes. When I served as a denominational minister I once worked with a church that had three members left. I don't they ever understood what happened.
Max Depree is considered a leadership guru, and I find great value in much of what he writes. He reminds us that "We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." You might want to read that again. That is a powerful statement for churches, families, businesses and individuals. Unless we are willing to be transformed we will never be able to move up.
God has been challenging His church to allow Him to transform them into something new. This has been going on for several years now. There is a shaking going on in the church in North America. I believe he is pouring new wine into the church. Old wineskins are bursting because they are inflexible. Those churches that are flexible are able to receive that new wine and experience the transformation He is bringing. These are the churches that will experience a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in these last days.
Pastors, church leaders, are your churches ready to experience the transformation God is bringing to the church?
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