Transformational Church: learning Jesus from the inside-out
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2Cor. 3:18)
In the corporate world, change management is a big topic, because “change is constant,” “change is inevitable,” and “the only thing you can count on is that things will change.” Just look at these headlines in the past few years (since 2020): Covid 19 lockdown (2020), BNO1 immigration from Hong Kong (2020), war in Ukraine (2022), passing of Queen Elizabeth II (2022), resignation of two British prime ministers (2022), release of ChaptGPT (2022), war in Gaza (2023) etc. One cannot but be amazed at the speed of change, and it has no sign of slowing down. What about the church? How should we view change? Biblically, Christians are encouraged to embrace change because radical change is at the heart of the Christian message, and because the power of the gospel is meant to change everything it touches: lives, churches, communities and societies. The apostle Paul says this: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18). The Greek verb for “being transformed” is “metamorphoó”, from which the English word metamor-phosis was derived. Bauer and Danker’s Greek lexicon describes the verb as “undergoing complete alteration” – just as a caterpillar is turned unrecognizably into a beautiful butterfly. Christians need not be apprehensive about change because, as one author notes, God made us creative so that we can navigate threats and challenges, laying hold of the possibilities around us. In addition, Jesus promises that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light when we take his yoke and learn from him (Matt. 11:29-30). This year’s theme is “Transformational Church: learning Jesus from the inside-out.” So let us ask God to transform our lives and our church from “one degree of glory to another” as we learn Jesus from the inside-out.