Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2 NIV).
These are words written by St Paul to the Christians in Rome. It is usually assumed that they apply to you and me, here and now. But is this realistic? And can anyone really be changed?
One of my recollections from the early years of my boyhood is that of the first time I was taken to see a pantomime. It was all something of a magical mystery tour to me and I remember being particularly impressed with what is known as the transformation scene. The most famous of these comes in the story of Cinderella, when before your eyes the drab kitchen in which Cinderella is forced to do all sorts of menial work turns into the glittering ballroom at the palace, where she meets the handsome prince.
It is the teaching of the Christian Faith that something just as sensational can happen in human life. No matter what age we are, no matter how tarnished we are, the Gospel says it is possible for us to be totally changed.
Scripture says it can be like being born all over again. Grown-up people can become children again. This is not only possible, it is absolutely necessary if Gods will for our eternal destiny is to be fulfilled.
To put it in the words of Jesus, Unless you are converted and become like little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.1
From foe to friend
There are plenty of examples of this in the Bible. Think of St Paul and the way he was changed on the road to Damascus. He started the journey a dedicated enemy of the Christian Faith, full of bitterness and hate and a total determination to destroy the new religion, which he regarded as an absolute aberration.
He ended the journey not only as himself a Christian, but as the man who would spend the rest of his life spreading the Gospel around the known world. You can read the story in Acts, chapter nine.
Or what about the change in the life of St Matthew from making a highly profitable and none-too-honest living, collecting taxes from his own people for the hated Roman occupying power to a totally new lifestyle in which he gave up all prospect of worldly gain as he tramped the dusty roads of Palestine with Jesus and his early followers?
Or what of Mary Magdalene, a wreck of a woman, totally shattered by life, who was transformed into one of the most dedicated and dependable supporters of Jesus, destined to stay with him when nearly everybody else had fled for their lives? But this sort of transformation did not come to an end with Biblical times. St Augustine found that his conversion to Christianity involved a radical change.
Beforehand he was totally immoral. This is how he put it in his own words. I took my fill of Hell. I ran wild in a rank forest of shady sexual adventures. My companions and I reeled and wallowed in filth. But you brought all that to an end, Lord.
If we walk through life with Jesus change is not just possible, it is inevitable.
It was at this point that everything was turned upside down for him, and he went on to become a Christian teacher of unique and profound ability. We all owe him more than we realize in the way in which we understand our Faith.
Not just in Biblical times
Changes like this still happen. On one of my visits to Northern Ireland I met a converted UVF terrorist. He said to me, When I met Jesus, he changed not only my own life but the lives of many others too. At the time I had twelve names on my death list. They would all be dead now, if Jesus had not changed me.
So experience shows that deep transforming change is possible. But how does it happen? What is the secret?
Perhaps ordinary life gives us a clue. Isnt it true that the thing that changes us most deeply either for good or for ill is the effect that other people have on us? In other words behind most personality change is the power of a transforming relationship.
Yvonne was a factory forewoman. For years the girls who worked under her hated her. They thought of her as unpleasant, overbearing and uncaring. Then one day everything changed. Yvonne started to show a happy and helpful side to her nature which beforehand nobody suspected could exist. They could not understand the difference in her until one of them spotted the engagement ring on her finger. There was a new relationship in her life and it made all the difference in the world.
You and I may well be able to think of relationships which have changed us. For my own part I am well aware that my wife, Eira, and I have changed each other profoundly over the years. We think those changes are all for the good.
So what is the relationship at the heart of the Christian Faith which has caused such a change in so many lives?
The stories just told make it clear. They are all linked to the close and living relationship which Christians are privileged to have with Jesus. God has called you, says St Paul, to friendship with his son Jesus.2 Thats the secret, thats the factor that has power to change a money-grabber, thief or terrorist into a new person.
So how does this affect you and me? It is important to know that we do need to change. It may well be that we have never been sensational sinners, but we are sinners, all of us. The Bible makes it clear. We are meant to love God with every fibre of our being and to love our neighbours as ourselves.3 We dont do it. So if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.4
No time like the present
This could well be the right time for you and me to check up on ourselves. There are two questions we should be asking. First, because Christian life is a journey and should never be static, think of yourself a year ago and ask How have I changed during the last twelve months? If we are not sure of the answer, the second question is How close am I keeping to Jesus? because he is the dynamic behind true Christian development. At the heart of the Christian Faith is the conviction that if we walk through life with Jesus change is not just possible, it is inevitable. Life in the presence of Christ, says scripture, involves new creation.5 We should be experiencing it day by day, and when our days on this planet come to an end, the transformation process will go on.
If I were to meet you as you are destined to become within the mystery of eternity, I might be tempted to fall on my knees and worship you. Already if your trust is in Jesus, God the Father has adopted you as his child. This is a marvellous thing in itself, but there is much more to come. Now are we children of God and it has yet to be revealed what we shall be.6 It is all too much for our tiny minds, but this is how Charles Wesley puts it: Changed from glory into glory till in Heaven we take our place, Till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.
I may never have met you, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that you are already a miracle of creation and, if you let God have his way with you, the miracle has only just begun!
1 Matthew 18:3
2 1 Corinthians 1:9
3 Mark 12: 29-31
4 1 John 1:8
5 2 Corinthians 5:17
6 1 John 3:2