being transformed

 The greatest need in my life right now is for me to be transformed by God. Not my husband. Not my child. Not my church. Not my friends. Not my circumstances. But me.

Like a hand missing a finger, or a leg missing a foot, so is a church body missing even one of its members. Does my body only come together once or twice a week to be a whole? Does my hand only ask for fingers when it wants to do something with them? Why then, does it seem, that as Christians we do the same with each other - often overlooking the needs and very real battles others are facing, and only considering them when we see each other? Why do we busy ourselves with life outside of church when we are the church?

I’ve heard it said times before and not even in Christian context, if you want to see change then be the change. We must be rebels against our world-loving sinful nature, and the sin-loving world, as neither want us to be transformed by God. “God loves you as you are,” they say, treating God like some kind of genie that should just accept us wretched sinners (but of course, they would never agree that they are sinners, for that would be so objectionable and leave such a sour taste in our mouth) - but this God should just let us continue in the wretched state we are in, aside from giving us some kind of good gift: a healing, a job, a raise, a home on the beach or in a nice neighborhood. But that isn’t the God of the Bible; our God is a God who loves us so much that He won’t let us stay stagnant and regressing in sin. His character can’t allow it. As John Stott said, “compromise with sin is incompatible with love.”

Indeed, if sin is incompatible with love, then it should be clear that we sin against each other as the church body when we deny each other the blessing to grace each other with whatever gifts God has given us. Perhaps the trials we face are graces by God that He has allowed in our life so that others in the church body may bless us with their gift of encouragement, counsel, or even edification. Perhaps the trials others face in the church were meant to be shouldered by not just one person, but many, and that in that the world would see how good our Savior is to allow a body of people to come together in unity, yet in variety as well (for no two people are the same), and share in each other’s sufferings. We rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. We transform to be more like Jesus the more we are together, blessing one another. We are more complete as a whole body should be, when we come together in unity and use our gifts for the building up of each other.

Going back to the beginning: we should never look around us and think that others are the problem. Even if we think that we are being persecuted, or that someone is being rude or unkind to us, we should respond in a manner worthy of Christ, and only kindness like Christ’s mercy and grace meets that need. When we believe others should be the first to change, we fall into the trap of judging others as we ourselves ought to be judged; we sin as we look past our own faults and jump on others about their faults. We also miss the opportunity to be most like God by forgiving others as God has forgave us. As we continue to grow in Christ-likeness, there is a tendency to be more aware of sin, but it always starts with us - that is, we look inwardly and see our own sin before others’ sins - and it should drive us mad as we can’t stand the sin within us. Yet, this is where God is so merciful to us; in that while we were still sinners, He gave His only begotten Son to die that we may be dead to sin and alive in Christ. 

Sanctification is not a breeze. It doesn’t happen over night. We will cry tears of frustration, tears of regret and repentance. We will be in low dark valleys, and every now and then have Mountaintop experiences. But sanctification never happens in and of itself; it doesn’t come about by being alone in the woods with a mindset of “Everyone else is a hypocrite” nor does it happen with a mindset of “I’m doing well and don’t need to change”. It comes with humility, sacrifice, and thinking sanely, that is like Christ. If you want to be transformed, and you want to grow in Christ, then find other believers who will walk with you on your journey, who will hold you up when you’re falling and whom you can do the same for; study your identity in Christ and what God says about you from beginning to end, and then keep thinking about it until you no longer think in old ways, corrupted by the world and your own deceitful heart, and one day you will be thinking as you ought. One day you will look back and see how far you have come by God’s grace, and notice that indeed you have been transforming all this time.