This is the fourth installment in our series on spiritual challenges. For your convenience, here are the previous three challenge articles:

What is the gospel?

What is the difference between sin, sins, and the sin?

How should Christians be thinking about this world?

Here, you will be challenged to think more broadly about transformation.

Transformation in this Kairos Moment

The entire human race finds itself attempting to survive the stormiest and most chaotic decade any of us have or will experience in our lifetimes. Christians know – by study of the Scriptures and life experience – that God has (at a minimum) allowed the storms and chaos, and we are not exempt from their effects (Matthew 5:45). We also know that our loving Father chastens, rebukes, and even scourges His children (Hebrews 12:5-6).

However, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Whether God is allowing or creating the storms and chaos, they will be worked by Him to our good. For this reason, we can confidently assert that the positive answer to, “Why has God allowed these storms and chaos into our lives?” is, “To transform us.”

Consequently, we have three purposes for this multi-part article on transformation:

1. To describe how transformation is God’s way for:
   • Maturing us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.
   • Sanctifying us as instruments for His use and glory.
   • De-conforming us from the world’s influence.
   • Bringing His sons and daughters to glory.

In other words, transformation is God’s way for making disciples.

2. To explain, via two-dozen or so principles, how God accomplishes our transformation. People generally feel better and respond more productively when they know what God is up to and how He operates. They also have an easier time weighing the cost of commitment to the journey when they know there is more light and life on the other side.
3. To present a new perspective on transformation which is particularly important for this season of storms and chaos: The principles of transformation apply to groups – from the smallest to the largest – as much as they do to individuals. This includes Christian marriages, families, fellowships, and the church itself over the last 2000+ years and on to the end of the story as we know it.

This third purpose may be foreign to most in the church; ironically, to those in secular spheres, it will not (e.g., business and sports team development). Within the church, disciple making has taken a backseat to counting conversions and building man-centered kingdoms. Acknowledging the certainty of a few exceptions, we do not feel the need to defend this assertion. Evidence abounds for anyone willing to objectively assess the condition of the Western church.

When the church has managed to turn its attention to disciple making, individual transformation has been the vastly predominate focus. Disciple making at this level is not a bad thing; it must be taken up and continued. However, we find ourselves in a Kairos – a sovereignly particular – moment. A new perspective is needed if we are to participate in God working the storms and chaos to our good.

This new perspective recognizes that the institutional church – like many other institutions (e.g., healthcare, government, insurance, education) – is dying. We might go so far as to say it is dead, and does not yet know it. This notion of institutional death can be found in the writings of historians (Neil Howe; The 4^th Turning), geopolitical experts (George Friedman; The Storm Before the Calm), economists (Ray Dalio; The Changing World Order), and anthropologists (Dr. Peter Turchin; End Times).

The storms and chaos God regularly uses to transform individuals (e.g., loss of job, death of a loved one, house fire, actual storms) are now being applied toward us at a higher level. God intends to transform His church corporately during this decade (or two) of storms and chaos. The purposes mentioned previously – and particularly our de-conformity from the world – are all in play.

As you continue through the remainder of this article, please hold in your mind (i.e., re-mind yourself) this new perspective on transformation. The challenge is to force yourself to think about the following assumptions and propositions as they relate to the spheres of influence God has entrusted to your care.

Assumptions and Propositions

After reading each of these statements, ask yourself, “Is there any reason this should not apply to groups of every size?” Challenge yourself to imagine how they might apply to your spheres of influence. Share back what the Holy Spirit reveals to you; He is our transformer.

1. Transformation is best understood as a three-stage process (see 2Corinthians 3:18):
   • A desire or burden of the heart, or a crisis, draws or pushes us out of our current level of spiritual maturity.
   • We step out into a season of transformation which prepares us for the new level.
   • We emerge into the new level, which is characterized by a good work God has created beforehand for us to walk in (good work is God’s word).
2. Transformation is a process which occurs repetitively throughout our lives, whereby the Holy Spirit puts our flesh to death, that the life of Christ might come forth. This requires our submission and participation in His work.
3. Seasons of storms and chaos provide opportunities for us to shake free from conformity with the world, through the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). Failure to seize this opportunity inevitably results in the deepening of our conformity, further distancing us from God.
4. Transformation comes to us consequentially (i.e., in response to welcomed change) and/or existentially (i.e., in response to unexpected storms/crises), but always providentially (i.e., within God’s sovereign will).
5. Transformation is best navigated with the help of someone who has made the journey themselves (i.e., disciples making disciples).
6. New forms of church are coming. We should expect some trial and error, as well as several alternative manifestations of God’s good work. Certain aspects of what we have come to understand as “church” – particularly those that have become corrupted and/or useless – will inform the new forms.
7. Navigating the chaos will be the more difficult part of the journey. Do not go alone; there are no lone rangers in the kingdom of God.
8. There are evil forces aligned against us. We must not cower in fear, now hesitate in cowardice. Resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7). We have been crucified to the world, and the world to us (Galatians 6:14). The Holy Spirit fights with us against our #1 enemy: our carnal mind (Romans 8:5-7).
9. God is a careful and capable orchestrator (Psalm 139:1-6). He has a way for navigating the chaos (Psalm 37:5).

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Storms and chaos provide incredible opportunities for transformation within the church, that we might more positively influence a world in desperate need of God’s mercy, truth, and justice. As always, please share your opinions, concerns, etc. And share this article with others.

Next time, we will challenge ourselves with the principles of transformation and how they apply to the church in a corporate context. In the meantime, God bless you with the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that you would know the riches of His inheritance in the saints and the power He has toward those who believe.

Have a strong day in the Lord,

Rob

#iamjustthepen