Formation for Transformation: It begins with me...

At Connections we are moving in a direction that can perhaps be summed up with the phrase formation for transformation. Being a church can easily be, if we let it, all about programs and activities. These might even be “successful” programs and activities, in terms of participation or some other measure. But in the end our faithfulness and success will not be measured in terms of how busy or how active we are, but in terms of how closely we follow God's Spirit at work in the church and in the world

And so, in a previous article, we looked at how we are to have a shape that emphasises “the spiritual growth of Christians [formation] and the finding of spiritual life by those who have not yet encountered Christ [transformation].”

There is a yearning in the world for spiritual life and spiritual maturity. People have a need for salvation – a restored relationship with God their Creator – but this fact has a richness that is often ignored.

The riches of salvation is wholeness, a maturity, or what theologians sometimes call sanctification, in God – an overcoming of not just the fact of sin, but something of its effect in our lives.

We are all aware of the power of sin as it shows up in hurts, guilts, shames, addictions, weaknesses, and wounded emotions, relationships, and personalities. The gospel offers not only a firm foundation, a grace-filled reconciliation that sets us lovingly in the arms of God, but a richness that works itself out as an ongoing formational work of God in our lives. This formation isn't a “quick-fix” but a dealing with the worldly and fleshly things so that we grow into a wholeness and a maturity - we become more and more like Jesus.

I love how Paul, when writing to the Philippians, immediately after the section where he exhorts them - “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” gives his readers this:

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Phil 2:12-13, emphasis added)

And so as a church we understand that God is at work in us, to form us, and to spiritually grow us – but we are not absent from the process. We are called to work – to put energy and effort into applying God's truth to the difficulties and manifestations of a broken world that make up our lives.

This is something we are to take seriously. A book I am reading at present (and I will review soon on my other blog) portrays a sadly-all-too-true picture of what church is often like:

“The sad truth is that too little difference exists, in terms of emotional and relational maturity, between God's people inside the church and those outside who claim no relationship to Jesus Christ. Even more alarming, when you go beyond the praise and worship of our large meetings and conventions and into the home and small-group meetings of God's people, you often find a valley littered by broken and failed relationships.”[1]

Returning to the Bible, James is quite blunt about it, speaking to the church:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:7-10)

Each one of us is called to respondto the grace by which Christ saves us and takes responsibility for our sin. We are in charge of how we respond to God. In other words - Your response to God's grace is your responsibility in the end. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you, forming you: In the light of God's love, and moved by his Spirit, deal with your issues, overcome the weaknesses, repent of the sins, adjust your paths, live by the truth – be broken, fixed, healed, adjusted: be formed.

God loves us, saves us – and so we respond. Peter Scazzero reminds us - “A revelation of God's free grace gives us the courage to face the painful truth about ourselves. As we step out onto the tightrope of discovering the unpleasant things about ourselves, we have a safety net below – the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”[2]

We are called to have formation for transformation at our heart. Whatever activities and programs we run (and we are currently exploring a few) the aim is to foster and assist this formation – to encourage, exhort and empower people to step up to the plate and respond to God's grace.

[1] Peter Scazzero with Warren Bird, The Emotionally Healthy Church, p17. Also sold in Australia.

[2] Scazzero, p83