Regeneration Without Transformation
I found this great post at Out of Ur, one of my favorite blogs and thought I'd pass it on to you:
No Transformation Necessary
Why do churches have such low expectations?
Dallas Willard has said, “We fail to be disciples only because we do not decide to be. We do not intend to be disciples.” But which is the greater problem, the person who does not intend to be a disciple or the church that never expects him to be one? Dave Johnson, senior pastor of Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, Minnesota, shares about a man from his childhood church. Ray was an elder who showed no evidence of transformation, and the church never seemed disturbed by that fact. Johnson asks the obvious question: What’s up with that?
His name was Ray. He sat in the 3rd row on the aisle seat of the church I grew up in. Every Sunday, there he was—watching, critiquing, making sure my father said it right. Ray’s Bible was a thing to behold. Words underlined and circled with arrows pointing to other words—notes in the margin of almost every page. I think he knew the Bible better than God.
Ray was a church guy. When I was 10, he scared me. When I was 20, after my father had begun to share with me the inside story of life in ministry, I came to realize that Ray scared him too. My dad was the pastor of our church. Ray was one of his elders—at least for a time—and he wasn’t a happy guy. The Spirit’s fruit, like love and joy, rarely showed up in him in any discernable way, and he didn’t much like it if showed up in yours.
Sometimes I wonder if I’ve been too hard on Ray. He’s somehow become the composite of every rigid, narrow minded person I’ve ever met in church. No matter—Ray’s dead now—long gone—in heaven, no doubt. At least that’s what we all thought, because Ray prayed the prayer. He believed all the right things about Jesus (His death, resurrection, 2nd coming, all that), and would fight you if you didn’t. Like I said, Ray was a church guy. He just wasn’t a good guy.
So here’s my question: “What’s up with that?” In all his years in church and in “the Word”, Ray never became a different kind of person. He never changed. He never became more loving, gentle, peaceful, or patient. Indeed, he only seemed to become more angry and rigid as time went on. He became harder to be around. What’s more, no one seemed to be bothered by that, as though something were out of the ordinary. No one wondered if maybe Ray had somehow missed the point.
In other words, not only did Ray never change but no one seemed to expect him to. Ray was just being Ray. He prayed the prayer, he believed the right stuff about Jesus, he was irritated with people who didn’t, and he went to heaven when he died. So again the question: “What’s up with that?”
So, what do you think? Why do we tolerate unchristian behavior by those who claim to have been saved 15, 20 or more years? What can be done to encourage and challenge believers to understand that being stagnant is no better than being backslidden?
HT: Out of Ur
No Transformation Necessary
Why do churches have such low expectations?
Dallas Willard has said, “We fail to be disciples only because we do not decide to be. We do not intend to be disciples.” But which is the greater problem, the person who does not intend to be a disciple or the church that never expects him to be one? Dave Johnson, senior pastor of Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, Minnesota, shares about a man from his childhood church. Ray was an elder who showed no evidence of transformation, and the church never seemed disturbed by that fact. Johnson asks the obvious question: What’s up with that?
His name was Ray. He sat in the 3rd row on the aisle seat of the church I grew up in. Every Sunday, there he was—watching, critiquing, making sure my father said it right. Ray’s Bible was a thing to behold. Words underlined and circled with arrows pointing to other words—notes in the margin of almost every page. I think he knew the Bible better than God.
Ray was a church guy. When I was 10, he scared me. When I was 20, after my father had begun to share with me the inside story of life in ministry, I came to realize that Ray scared him too. My dad was the pastor of our church. Ray was one of his elders—at least for a time—and he wasn’t a happy guy. The Spirit’s fruit, like love and joy, rarely showed up in him in any discernable way, and he didn’t much like it if showed up in yours.
Sometimes I wonder if I’ve been too hard on Ray. He’s somehow become the composite of every rigid, narrow minded person I’ve ever met in church. No matter—Ray’s dead now—long gone—in heaven, no doubt. At least that’s what we all thought, because Ray prayed the prayer. He believed all the right things about Jesus (His death, resurrection, 2nd coming, all that), and would fight you if you didn’t. Like I said, Ray was a church guy. He just wasn’t a good guy.
So here’s my question: “What’s up with that?” In all his years in church and in “the Word”, Ray never became a different kind of person. He never changed. He never became more loving, gentle, peaceful, or patient. Indeed, he only seemed to become more angry and rigid as time went on. He became harder to be around. What’s more, no one seemed to be bothered by that, as though something were out of the ordinary. No one wondered if maybe Ray had somehow missed the point.
In other words, not only did Ray never change but no one seemed to expect him to. Ray was just being Ray. He prayed the prayer, he believed the right stuff about Jesus, he was irritated with people who didn’t, and he went to heaven when he died. So again the question: “What’s up with that?”
So, what do you think? Why do we tolerate unchristian behavior by those who claim to have been saved 15, 20 or more years? What can be done to encourage and challenge believers to understand that being stagnant is no better than being backslidden?
HT: Out of Ur
Labels: discipleship, growth, maturity
posted by jawbone at
10:40 PM
2 Comments:
It is difficult because, as much as I read this article and say "yeah! why isn't transformation expected?!", i also find myself struggling with the same apathy and resistance to change. I was speaking to a close friend recently about our circle of friends and noted that it seems that, as a whole, we try to see how close we can live to the "fun, worldy" life while still maintaining enough distance to consider ourselves Christians. Why is it that we aren't striving to see how close we can be to holiness? Isn't that what it's all about? Thank you for picking up the torch and providing this confirming challenge!
By
Anonymous, at 12:09 PM
Stagnation is not something the church should tolerate. How we approach the problem is the key. When looking for individuals to help in the work of the kingdom we often shy away from the stagnant ones when in fact we should be focusing on them. I’ve seen stagnant people transform simply because someone was able to look past the surface and see the potential of the believer through the eyes of God. It’s amazing to see how a stagnant, critical, crusty Christian can change just by someone taking interest, recognizing their strengths, and engaging them in some kind of ministry giving them a vested interest in the work of the church. We can fight this spreading disease of stagnation by upholding a high standard of personal and corporate fellowship. I think it is safe to say that the ability to maintain a strong relationship with God and resist becoming stagnant is associated with maintaining quality relationships with believers.
td
By
Anonymous, at 1:15 PM
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