SHIFTING CONTAINERS – Spiritual Capacity

As Christians we need to be transformed with an ever-increasing capacity to develop a Christ consciousness.  We need to be discontent to live a life of spiritual smallness, satisfied to fill our “small containers” week after week without any desire to obtain “bigger containers” and increase our capacity.  We need to use this season to start shifting containers!  So, for 10 Sundays we will explore areas that would need to reflect an increase in capacity.

Today we start with lesson ONE:  SPIRITUAL CAPACITY — the need to move from a transactional faith to a transformational faith.

The hallmark of the Christian faith is that we embrace our suffering with dignity.  Our supreme example, innocently judged and unjustly crucified, gave us the mandate to find delight in the cross of Salvation and dignity in disgrace.   Jesus never lost His dignity by seeking scapegoats, by exposing the evil plans of His enemies, by calling His crucifiers the Antichrists or by pointing fingers to the corrupt Roman Empire and religious leaders.  His only dignified response was an appeal to His Father to forgive those who sought His demise.

If COVID-19 has revealed one thing, it is the inability of many Christians to accept inconvenience without pointing fingers.  Born again, no doubt.  Biblical knowledge, for sure.  But sadly, still untransformed

The reality is that simply being “born-again” into the Christian faith does not guarantee a transformed life or a renewed mind.  This happens during our unexpected trials when we are transformed from embracing Christ into a Christ-consciousness.  A.W.Tozer once said that “if your Christian conversion did not reverse the direction of your life, if it did not transform it then you are not converted at all.  You are simply a victim of the “accept Jesus” heresy!”

But building capacity during a global pandemic will not happen BY CHANCE.  It will only happen BY CHANGE.  And when it happens, our focus should not be on spiritual GROWTH – but on spiritual TRANSFORMATION.  It is so easy for a small caterpillar to focus on growing and becoming a bigger, fatter caterpillar without the vision of growing wings and transforming into a butterfly.  Building capacity is not about obtaining more knowledge or even deeper insights into spiritual matters and Biblical predictions.  Capacity growth happens when we confront ourselves, our lifestyles, our values and our mindsets.  And there has probably never been a better time to do this than now.  Once we understand the difference between growth and transformation a new world opens up that leads us to embrace Christ in His fulness, not only His teachings.

It will be a sad indictment of any believer if we enter heaven the same way that we entered faith, only perhaps with a wider Biblical knowledge.  1 Corinthians 13:11 explains the process of an evolutionary theology and a continued modification of our theological position as follows:  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 

As we start developing our spiritual capacity, the first step is to be transformed from an infant TRANSACTIONAL faith to a mature TRANSFORMATIONAL faith.  Capacity development depends on this principle.

TRANSACTIONAL FAITH

For most of us the introduction to Christ was a “transactional” one.  The Scripture in 1 Timothy 2:3-6 was received with great joy as we were reminded that “God wants all people to be saved and that this happens through one mediator, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people”.   We entered faith with a deep love for a Saviour who “gave Himself” and “paid the price” of our sins to become the sacrificial Lamb on our behalf.  But if we remain transactional Christians for the rest of our lives, we will never become transformed, changed, and mature followers.  The process of transformation involves moving from loving Christ because He performed a transaction on the cross to being transformed into the likeness of the One who calls us to imitate Him

Too many Christians understand the act of salvation in a transactional way instead of a transformational way. This perspective allows us to ignore Jesus’s lifestyle and preaching, because all we really need Jesus for is the last three days or three hours of His life. What we GET is for many far more important than what we BECOME.  We convert the MASTER into a MASCOT, or some kind of genie that is ready at all times to respond to our needs and our desires.  To enlarge our spiritual capacity will require an understanding of the life of Christ and not just an appreciation of the death of Christ.  We need to move beyond salvation into transformation.

TRANSFORMATIONAL FAITH

The definition of a transformational faith is probably best described by Cynthia Breault when she noted that:  “To be transformed is putting on the mind of Christ.  It is not just admiring Jesus, but acquiring His consciousness.”   When Christians are called to be transformed into the image of Christ in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18, we are called to a process where we transform into the consciousness of Christ.

When followers of Christ are called to BE TRANSFORMED, Scripture uses exactly the same word as in Matthew 17:2  that describes the transfiguration of Christ.   The Greek word used in all three these verses is met-am-or-fo-o which indicates a metamorphosis or a complete transformation in form and in nature – to be made new on the inside and on the outside.  This is what we are taught in Ephesians 4:22-24  where the Church is instructed to “put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; and to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”.

This is a transformational faith which does not refer only to “conversion” as a changing or entering of a belief-system but “conversion” as the process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another.  Our spiritual capacity can only expand once we move from a “faith conversion” to a “lifestyle conversion”.

Being discipled and being transformed are two completely different processes in the life of a believer and should not be confused with one another.  You can be mature but still not transformed.  However, you cannot be transformed without becoming mature.  Capacity growth takes place once we transform and acquire the consciousness of Christ.

COVID-19

During a global pandemic which is accompanied by death, fear, and uncertainty Christians are presented with an opportunity to talk differently, think differently, live differently, respond differently, and even look different.   If we follow the patterns of the world (Romans 12:2), seeking scapegoats, sowing suspicion and pointing fingers, we nullify the spirit of the cross and consciousness of Christ.  There is a dignity that comes through the process of transformation that is even more contagious than the virus itself.  It is visible to others and provides hope, not suspicion, life, not fear, peace, not accusations

Richard Rohr describes it as follows:

“The price for real transformation is high. It means that we have to change our loyalties from power, success, money, ego, and control to the imitation of a Vulnerable God where servanthood, surrender, and simplicity reign. Of course, most people never imagine God as vulnerable, humble, or incarnate in matter. We see God as Almighty, and that vision validates almightiness all the way down the chain.”

Next week we will explore how we can expand our PERCEPTUAL CAPACITY

You are most welcome to order the book CAPACITY from Mike at thirdwayinfo@gmail.com