Focusing on the positive for transformation

As followers of Jesus we are all transformers to the world. This is an integral part of our DNA. Jesus came to change the world and did that by the way that He lived and, more importantly, died. We His followers are charged with His spirit to live the same way.

Transformers are not content with the here and now. They know a higher life and future. We have the privilege to demonstrate that higher life now to those we meet, deal with, and relate to. There is no proforma way of doing this. A man called Arthur Stace did it in Sydney by writing in chalk wherever he was the word Eternity. Even now if you google “Eternity” his bio is still on the first page. Not bad for a down and out Christian survivor of WW1 who died in 1967. Arthur Stace Made A Difference. Society today would probably call this graffiti and have it removed before it could make any difference.

The inspiration for how we transform society is the love that we experience from God through Jesus and His stipulation to take up our cross and follow Him. There are some basic guides to how we should operate the first of these is that whatever we do must be motivated by love. This doesn’t mean that we will always make people happy. William Wilberforce who initiated the Bill that made slavery illegal under British sovereignty did so from his Christian beliefs, I have little doubt that people with vested interests were not happy with the difference that Wilberforce made

The second parameter should be that in all we do Jesus is glorified and not us. Jesus gave us that in Matthew’s Gospel Chapter 6 where He warns about doing things for the honour that accrues to the person, who does a thing to be seen to do it.

The ways and means that we use as transformers are generally simple and can even use the skills of our working day. There are also two levels of operation. I remember a church in Australia that had a large number of mechanics who Saturday a month serviced “poor” peoples cars for them. Similarly I understand that Saddle Back Church has a scheme that accepts donated cars that are refurbished and made available to the disadvantaged around the area. These have been examples of organizational transformation many other things can be done to improve the lot of others, it only takes a little creativity and caring.

Personal transformation is the second level of loving those around us. This takes risk as much as anything. We need to be willing to see ourselves as “walking billboards” that say “Jesus lives here”. By letting Him illuminate our walk we will start to recognize where our Jesus love can flavor and enlighten a place. Simply observing people in a shopping complex will show the way that people do not interact, and how much pain is around in the dynamics of how families relate.

Extending these observations out to a wider society it is not hard to see the amount of dysfunction and hurt out there in society. By using the simple means of smiles, acknowledgement, giving a helping hand and other Random Acts of Kindness we can create an environment where the rest of society learns to “give a damn”, and on a personal level, can build to the question of why being posed by an appreciative person. This is the moment that a Transformer looks for because it gives him and her opportunity to point toward Jesus the inspiration for our action