Pseudo-Transformation

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Yeah, I missed a Bible verse yesterday. Apparently it is very easy to come up with a Bible Passage dealing with “befuddlement”. Not only that, but Sunday School has been singing quite a catchy song based upon this verse. So can I have a resounding, “DUH”? I’m so busy “teaching” it that I’m not “living” it? Going through the motions again am I?

Off to Study Guide questions …

1.      “The man who never changed.” How have I been impacted by such a person in my life?

In the book, we meet Hank. He is cranky. He never smiles. He was a cranky boy and he dies a cranky old man. And he’s a fixture in Church. And he never experiences a transformation.

Okay, so there is an older couple I know. People I have known my entire life. People I always saw as Matriarch/Patriarch in the church. I wouldn’t call them a power couple or church royalty. But they are always there. They are always active. And if they’re not, you worry. And that was my perception.

THEN I joined them in a particular ministry. One sat by me and the other sat behind me. And they nagged and they complained and they insinuated. They drug me down so low that I no longer enjoyed something that I usually loved. And I find it interesting that they invited me on multiple occasions before I joined only for them to be part of the reason why I stopped.

And I wonder if they were always like that? If they were Hank’s? If they transformed backwards? Or they never grew. If they were stagnant.

2.     What are some of the possible consequences if we expect people in the church to follow a list of rules and regulations but fail to call them to a life that is becoming progressively more and more like Jesus?

The obvious problem – if they are aware that they don’t conform to the rules, they might believe that they are not welcome to do more … and none of us are perfect. If we all thought that way, no one would try to do more.

The following can be found on the “Volunteers Central” page of my church’s website:

“As you grow in your faith you move from being a spectator of His work to a participant in His work. Put your unique spiritual gifts into action!”

http://www.stpaulsdecatur.org/involved.htm

10/09/10

I love how this is stated. We have called on them to grow. Balls in their court though …

And what if you are already participating in His work, what is the next level? What’s the next step? ‘Cause, truthfully, what if you’re already doing a lot, but you’re not growing anymore. You’re burning out. And if the few are doing ALL the work, that is going to happen. And they will be doing a LOT, but not well. I always argue Quality over Quantity. Yet, I don’t feel I can practice what I preach.

Aside from the original question, there was a notation in the margin of the book, “How do we move people from [this] to genuine faith?” “This” refers to “we may devote our lives to observing all the rules and yet never open the heart to love or joy.” And that’s hitting the nail on the head for me. Two years ago I would have said I was brimming with love and joy and I could hardly contain it. How did I go from that to where I’m at now? My joy and love have been smashed to pieces. I’m partly starting to believe that it was because I wasn’t allowed to grow or given the appropriate guidance as to how to grow.

3.     C. S. Lewis said that each of us is “like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” In what ways is this true of your life?

Perhaps I don’t see change in others even when I expect it. And I certainly can’t see or feel incremental changes in myself.

I remember I went on an anti-anxiety medication years and years ago. I was placed in a new and different position without my consent. And I figured I could stay or go and who leaves security even if it means added stress. My doctor told me that I probably wouldn’t notice anything, but the people around me would probably start to notice a difference in a couple of weeks. I wish I could remember who noticed or even if anybody noticed.

At this stage of my “transformation”, there is a part of me that says, “I wish I didn’t care so much. I wish I could just drop everything and be a ‘spectator’ again. I wish it didn’t hurt.”

It is so very hard when you would rather stay and play with the mud pies, but know that is not in your best interest. And you want to go on holiday, but you don’t have the energy, or the funds, or the maps or the transportation and most importantly, you don’t have a traveling companion. I need someone who is already on the other side to extend a hand. Surely there must be someone …

“Doh!” Is this where the standard answer works? Is the answer Jesus? He’s the one on the other side extending the hand just waiting for me to take it?

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
“You of little faith, “he said, “why did you doubt?”

Matthew 14:31 (NIV)