Be Transformed — Discern the Will of God

[Jesus] said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” —Jesus Christ in Matthew 18:3

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,

so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

—The Apostle Paul in Romans 12:2

I need to confess something to you: I don’t really like change. I like to save stuff. I like to enjoy the familiar. I enjoy living in the same place for years, knowing the same people.

But something funny has happened while I have believed that. I have moved twenty-four times in my fifty-seven years! But I do know about “not changing” because I lived from Kindergarten until my High School graduation in the same house in Connecticut: thirteen years. And my family and I have owned our own home in Urbandale for just over seven years. So most of those moves happened in the middle thirty-seven years. Change did not always feel good to me. But nearly every move, every change to a new school, or a new call to ministry, offered a bright side: a chance to sort, rearrange or discard my possessions, an opportunity to make new friends, new bike paths to explore or challenges to meet in a new work setting.

Lately my visits have brought me into conversation with a number of families who are making changes, especially by “downsizing” their household from their family home into a much smaller apartment. These people are discovering that they can not only survive with less material possessions, but many actually feel unburdened and relieved to have made the change.

Jesus Christ, and his earliest apostle, Paul, both challenge us to make change, or transformation, part of our plan. Jesus wants us to become like children, to recover innocence and wonder, an openness to sharing and, as the French would say, a certain “joie de vivre” – the joy of living! Paul invites us to renew our minds, presumably through study, service, travel and prayer, and to allow ourselves to be transformed.

At Central Christian, where I am called to serve, each worshipper is invited to be open to the changes that the Spirit of God is calling us all to make: to renew our minds by choosing a new Sunday School class or by attending a fellowship group, to stretch our attitudes by adjusting our personal or family budget to increase our generous response to those in greatest need, to be open to meeting different people, making new friends and changing our response to those from whom we have turned away.

Let us all be transformed...by the Spirit of God.

James Dobson Doesn't Speak for Many of Us!

On June 24, James Dobson came out with his literalistic and limited view of scripture and his strict conservative view of the Constitution, and then labeled Obama's views as "distorting" the Bible and a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution. Does Mr. Dobson really take a Constitutional scholar such as Senator Obama and try to reduce his years of study, research and scholarly teaching to "a fruitcake interpretation?" Apparently, Mr. Dobson claims the audacity to do that and thinks he can get away with it. But is his criticisim of Senator Obama a "christian" response?

I believe that the Christian community has to learn to agree to disagree amicably. Some of us take the Bible literally. Others take it seriously. How we interpret what we read determines the priorities we choose: personal salvation or justice for the the poor and the oppressed. Some would say we need to have both viewpoints in our vision. Clearly, I need an inclusivist to speak for me. Barack Obama, like many believers I know and serve, tries to claim an inclusive vision of God's justice, judgement and grace.