Change and Transformation

There is a subtle difference between change and transformation.  Change usually involves getting rid of something and exchanging it for something else.  If you change your address, you leave your old address and move into your new one.  If you change your shirt, you take one off and put another one on.  Transformation takes what you have and reshapes it into something different.

Change can happen to us; transformation happens in us.

At Community Life Church, we have been making a lot of changes.  The changes have not been made rashly or without much prayer and planning.  The changes are being made to do what we can to make our little group of believers more effective instruments for the work of the Holy Spirit in our community.  And through all these changes, we hope that we can be transformed personally, to be personally more in tune with the working of God’s Spirit.

Richard Rohr has some comments on transformation:  “But mere change might or might not be accompanied by authentic inner transformation. If change does not include personal transformation, we do not actually grow, we just grudgingly adjust.”

Throughout our changes, we each need to be open to personal transformation.  If we don’t, we might wind up doing little more than “grudgingly adjust”.

Our egos often get in the way of personal transformation through change. In self importance, we can quickly look on ourselves as victims in change.  Or, if we are pushing for the change, we can become bullies as victors in change.  Whenever change is going on, we all need a hefty dose of grace: to accept change gracefully and not be victims, to initiate change gracefully and not be victors.

Richard Rohr notes: “Change is one thing the ego hates more than anything. The ego fights, avoids, and denies the necessity or advantage of any real transformation, which is why true spiritual growth is so rare and the Gospel is so hard to hear. The ego prefers the status quo—even when it is killing us.”

Something to think about.