The fruit of genuine transformation should characterize the lives of all Christ-followers, yet if truth be known, precious few who claim to be Christians actually evidence such transformation in their lives. This is exactly what George Barna highlighted today in the unveiling of his new book, Maximum Faith, at the Western regional Wesleyan Holiness Consortium, held at Azusa Pacific University.

    Barna pulled no punches in describing how today's church has divorced transformation from the process of salvation and placed it into the hands of the individual.  Rather than providing people with a "map" for the intentional transformation of their lives, many churches give folks a "menu" -- leaving it up to the individual to pick-and-choose among options, selecting what sounds good to them, and hoping it all turns out well.  In contrast to such an approach, Barna insists that churches must partner with people in the transformation of their lives, guiding them and helping them to avoid the faulty associations so prevalent among professing Christians today. Barna's recent research suggests that...

We Confuse:                              With:

salvation                                transformation

presence                               connection

acquaintance                         relationship

participation                           integration

intellectual knowledge           faith

holiness                                 perfection

busyness                               significance

emotional happiness             joy

regularity                               passion

physical comfort                    divine reward

    Such confusions and misconceptions can be remedied, at least in part, by better understanding the dynamics of authentic spiritual transformation. So then, how does God transform people’s lives? Barna draws on recent research to describe a ten-stop "journey" that he believes produces robust life transformation – and goes on to explain the reasons behind why most people struggle to get past the halfway mark (noting that only 1% of Americans reach stop 9 and/or 10).  Here are Barna's 10 "Stops":

1. Ignorance
2. Indifference
3. Concern about sin
4. Born again - inactive
5. Born again - active (doing "Christian" things)
6. Discontent
7. Brokenness (usually through personal crisis)
8. Surrender, Submission
9. Profound love of God
10. Profound love for people

    Much is currently being written regarding evangelicalism's misrepresentation of conversion/salvation as a "decision" or "event" that occurs at a point-in-time, rather than as a process or journey. Despite this, change  is slow in coming.  I applaud Barna for being a contributing voice to a church in need of reform, and look forward to reading and reviewing Maximum Faith in the coming days.

In the early centuries of the Church, worship was dynamically linked to the spiritual formation of worshipers. The various acts of worship constantly reminded believers of their formation journey as worshipers, in that these worship components were first delivered and explained to them as part of the catechetical instruction they received prior to and following their baptism – itself, a central act of worship.   As worshipers heard the teachings, memorized the Creed, offered up prayers, and received the Eucharist, their own catechesis and baptism were always in view. Believers were formed for worship.

Today’s reality is quite different.  Conversion and Christian formation have little to do with the when, why, and how we worship.  As evangelicals, we are quick to affirm that the Christian faith is meant to be a faith-of-the-heart. [OT: God is not after our “sacrifices”, but after our hearts] Yet, a process of spiritual formation that prepares the believer for knowledge of, full participation in, and commitment to worship is strangely absent.   We might “require” praise-team members to be members or at least regular attendees for 6 months or some such thing before being allowed on stage to help lead worship, but we generally leave their spiritual formation process up to them!  We have fairly successfully disconnected the ministry and acts of worship from the spiritual formation of the worshiper.

What implications does this disconnect present?  How might it be affecting our corporate worship expressions?  In what ways does our culture’s emphasis on radical individualism, as well as egalitarianism, keep us from rediscovering and utilizing the catechetical practices of the early church?  Further, what implications would the faithful catechizing of believers have on the health, strength, and effectiveness of congregational worship and mission?

We evangelicals commonly “save” people (facilitate their "decision" to receive Christ), yet fail to fully “convert” them. As a result, we become discouraged when attempting to “disciple” these saved-but-not-yet-converted “Christians,” and shake our heads in disbelief at how many of them eventually discard their faith for a more secularized and even less demanding "form" of quasi-Christian spirituality. 

Wouldn’t this reality drastically change if we led new comers to the faith through a process of conversion, and of Christian formation?  What if worship, then, flowed out of who we had become?  What if we worshipped like truly baptized people (with all that this means), rather than un-converted folks who still bring their capitalism, materialism, hedonism, narcicism and the like, into the worship gathering?

(more to come)

image © iStockPhoto, Steve Greer