Transformation

This weekend I attended a DOC sponsored workshop about Transforming Churches. You may remember that in 2000 the DOC's set a goal to start 1000 new churches and transform 1000 existing churches by the year 2020. We're doing pretty well on the new church starts, somewhere in the 600+ range I think, but how many transformations have begun is another question.

When I got home from the event my husband says "What does church transformation mean, anyway?" Good question. I told him I thought it was like pornography -- you know it when you see it. How can we define and measure transformation anyway? Whether it's personal or whether it's the church, painting a picture of a transformed entity is difficult. It's difficult because, unlike a caterpillar who turns into a butterfly, there are likely to be many things that appear to be the same on the outside even though the inside might be entirely different. That's the way it SHOULD be, in my opinion.

A transformed church could include a renovation of the outside of course. A new building could be built or a remodeling of physical spaces could be undertaken; but unless something happens to change our insides, we can make all of the changes to the outsides that we want with little to no true effect. (This is true for people too; I can lose weight and build up my muscles, but unless I change my attitude about nutrition and exercise, the outside changes won't last long.)
In the church, our transformation starts with new attitudes. It starts with the idea that God is #1. That should seem pretty obvious, but because churches are human institutions, we can be very focused on ourselves first and God second. We worry about things like the timing of our services and the comfort of our pews and the accessibility to our buildings before we think about why those things matter. I know a church that built a wonderful new building and expected to fill it with people because of how great the building was compared to the old facility. But they didn't change their attitudes toward God nor towards one another. The same old feuds and rivalries existed. The same old reliability on people-power instead of God-power. The only thing that changed was the outside appearance. What was it Jesus said? Something like "It isn't the outside that makes you unclean but what comes from the inside??"

One of the great things that I heard this weekend was this: "You have everything you need to transform your congregation." So many of us get caught up in the fact that we don't have audio/visual technology or people to make up a praise team, or the parking lot is too small or the walls are dingy and need repainting. These are all things I have obsessed over myself. And, while I still hope that we can make some of the needed physical changes, I see now that they are a result of internal changes in perception, not the other way around. We will acquire things that are necessary to support our inner needs, not the other way around. Things don't change our hearts. This has been an obvious conclusion to me in other areas of my life; I don't know why it has just now been hammered into me when it comes to thinking about the church. But things seem different to me now than it did last week. (Is that transformation?)

So this time next year will I be able to point to our church and say "we are being transformed?" I hope so. What will I be able to point to? I don't know --- but I'm sure I'll know it when I see it!