Transformation: One of a 3-Part “-ATION” Series
80% of church growth comes from transfers, not conversions. In other words, large numbers of people are not experiencing transformation. They simply change locations.
Leaders say they want true transformation for their people. It’s easy to spot because it has a lasting impact. Yet leaders wonder why true transformation appears to be so elusive.
Outward Task versus Inward Change
The advertising world helps us understand what drives true transformation. Read these recent ad tag lines:
- “Follow this diet to lose 30 pounds in 20 days!”
- “Brush with this toothpaste and your teeth will be twice as white.”
- “Invest in this mutual fund and you will have financial security in retirement.”
The ads don’t ask you to change your heart or your feelings (make an internal change.) Rather, they simply ask you to use a product – or in other words, undertake a temporary action (conduct an outward task.)
In contrast, biblical transformation involves a one-way and irrevocable inward change that starts in a person’s heart.
Transformation is a Process
Image: Active Church Files
Consider the caterpillar. He is so anxious for a new life that he is willing to climb up a tree, cover up in a self-made sleeping bag, stay for awhile, and then fight like crazy to get out. Afterwards he looks and functions completely differently. The caterpillar undergoes a process. Now he is fundamentally different – transformed.
But he can never go back to being a caterpillar.
2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord.”
The verse points out how transformation is an ongoing process, not a one-time task. Change comes not in an outward action to be checked off a to-do list, but rather as an outcome of an inner heart walking with God.
Transformation is not elusive. It is simply rare … and tremendously valuable. When people see genuine inward heart change modeled in their leaders (rather than a superficial, temporary change), they are willing to be transformed.
The caterpillar has to fight is way out of the cocoon. We do, too.
