Small Group Connections

Transformation can be a slow process. 

Yes, when you make the catalytical decision to invest your life in Christ (abide in Him) and allow Him to direct your paths (abide in you) it often results in an immediate change of life direction.  Your life takes a new heading.  The journey, however, has only begun and your transformation is in its infancy.  Healthy Christ-followers begin to learn how to be “like Christ” in every situation and circumstance and they grow… and keep growing.

Some (many) are not as healthy and their transformation is a much slower process.  Why?  Because they do not strive to build upon what has already been formed in their lives and, as a result, they lose sight of their journey to maturity. 

Sound complicated?  Think of it this way…

Simon Peter teaches us, in his second book to Christ-followers (us), that our journey is WORK (he calls it “effort“) and that this journey is the very thing that gives us the knowledge necessary for us to participate in the divine nature of God (to be like Him in every situation and circumstance) and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (our own evil desires).  I know, still not clear… so, hang in there…

Then he gives us what we need… a simple set of instructions and building blocks for maturity (growth).  He basically says, “place this block on top of this other one and then step back to see what is being formed… keep doing this over and over – building and observing, building and observing… and it will result in an effective and productive life in Christ.”  Sounds like what we did in preschool with small wooden blocks doesn’t it?  Well, it is. 

Here’s how he puts it.  Add to your faith goodness – the first block down (foundation) is faith… it’s where we begin but it is only the first step.  Remember, he says to add to your faith right from the start (see, I told you it was a process).  And what do we add first?  Goodness… that means we start doing things that our “good” Father does (and has always done).  God is good… He does good things… and He wants us to do what He is doing (that’s what Jesus did so we are already acting like Him too – way cool!).

The next step is as simple as the first… and to goodness, add knowledge.  So, Peter wants us to study up on this Christ life… to read the book… to think about it… to take it all in… mull it over… to learn.  That’s what adding knowledge is, right?  So, now we are doing good things and learning good stuff – sounds like our lives are beginning to change already and we’ve only just begun.  (I like it already!)

Here comes another block… and to knowledge, add self-control.  OK, I can’t help it… I have two thoughts here.  First, I see a small child building with blocks (you see it too, I know) and he has very unstable hands… one block is stacked a little off center and the next is hanging by a corner… a little self-control could help alot here.  The second, well, it’s me… all my life I have experienced the highs and lows of “a little knowledge.”  It’s like getting a new BB gun.  You figure out how to load it, aim it, pull the trigger and listen for the results just about the time you shoot the window out… Why?  Because you lack the self-control a BB gun demands.  Same with this new life in Christ.  You have just enough goodness and knowledge to make you dangerous to yourself and to others who are watching you live out this new Christ life.  Can you say “self-righteous” - “judgmental” - “pious?” 

Then another block… and to self-control, add perseverance.  That sounds a little strange at first but with the addition of faith, goodness, knowledge and self-control to your life you are looking less and less like the world and more and more like a Christ follower… so perseverance comes at a pretty good point here – just when the world notices the differences in you and begins to mock and challenge you.  Hang it there!  Persevere!  Don’t turn back.  Don’t give up!

…and to perseverance, add godliness.  Oh good, finally we get to the good stuff… the stuff that sounds like Christ-likeness… the stuff that will really set us apart… that stuff that makes us feel like we belong to the family of God.  Yep, that’s all true… and there’s no reason to deny a single element of it.  With godliness comes a total change of character, a new outlook on everything, a new eternal direction and focus, a new you.  Everything old has passed away and the new has come.  You’ve done it!  You are more like Him than you are like who you once were.  It’s godliness and it feels great – like reaching a plateau after a long climb and feeling like you are part of the mountain.  It’s so good…

…and to godliness, add brotherly kindness.  No special recipe here.  This is just goodness all grown up.  It’s putting others first… considering the needs of another above your own… sacrificing for others with absolutely no expectations and no rewards… laying down your life for another.  Loving and sticking closer than a brother.  It is so foreign to the world that the only parallell they can claim is one of great loss and futility as the loss of one life prolongs another.  With Christ, it is so much more… it is the crowning achievement of His life and ours.  It is salvation!  It is the aim and goal.  It is the pinnacle!  It is what we live for.  And its rewards are eternal.

… and to brotherly kindness, add love.  Weren’t we just talking about love?  Yes, but this love goes beyond the sacrificing of one’s needs to fulfill anothers.  This love is unconditional… no strings attached… no prerequisites… no “loving me first”… no qualifications… no measuring up.  It is loving the unlovely and unlovable.  It is loving the one who has harmed you, neglected you, attacked you, mocked you, injured you and left you for dead.  It is loving the one who cast you aside when you first added to faith goodness and began this whole transformational process.  It is love that pours from a heart so filled with love that it must have an outlet.  It is pure and living and satisfying.  It is the love that flows from God through the channels of your heart… and across the broken lives around you… healing wounds and binding up what could never be restored otherwise.  You know, love… real love.

And all this building of blocks comes with a great promise… if you possess these qualities in increasing measure (never stop growing in them – never stop building and observing), they will keep you (did you get that? can you feel the warmth, the security, the protection?)… they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive (sounds like a wasted life to me) in your knowledge (the very thing that allows you to abide in God’s nature and escape the corruption of the world)… in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Now that’s good news!  That’s the purpose and goal of the journey!  That’s worth working for!  That’s worth every dropped block or “start over”… that’s life and abundant life.  That’s the promise!

So, it all began with faith… you’ve taken that first step… you may have taken many more steps… but to continue to grow you must take a step back… recognize what block you placed last… and pick up the next block.  Keep building… keep observing… keep growing.  Those who don’t will become blind and forget that they have been cleansed from their past sins.  Those who do will find that the transformation is worth the process.  They will find God and He will find them and they will abide together forever – in real love.

They will add to their faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  And they will be transformed.