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THE CHRISTIAN, THE CHURCH AND SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION
By Kemi Adesola
Bible references: Psalms 119:9-10, Philippians 1:9-10, Ephesians
5:8-11, 1Thess: 4:1-4, Titus2:11-12, 1 Peter5:5-6.
Many people who claim to be Christians are living their lives based on that assumed status. Some even attend churches regularly as a religious duty but statistics have shown that the average church – goer usually attends for non- spiritual reasons which include:
A. To meet new people
B. To meet a prospective life partner
C. To make business connections
D. To seek for financial support
E . To seek for emotional support
F. To see the pastor for deliverance prayers.
The list continues….
These are wrong reasons for joining a church because the church is a spiritual place from the word Ekklesia which means ‘The called out’ and ‘The assembly’.
The church is an assembly of the called out, so joining a church is a calling on our destiny. If our Christian destiny is to shine, then we must see the church as a spiritual destiny hub, avoid church ‘ hopping’ at all cost or at least minimize it if we have to change church due to relocation or life changes and ensure that we make it a personal duty to be spiritually transformed.
We all claim to be Christian based on our belief and the finished work of Christ. We are assumed to understand what it means to be a member of the body of Christ which us the church. The physical church or (online since 2020) and a universal church which is the invisible spiritual church of the lord worldwide is connected by the holy spirit. When a person becomes baptized and decides to follow Jesus, the next step is to belong to a church and function there in obedience and submission, receiving the gifts of the holy spirit and using them to serve the body.
The two factors above however, does not guarantee spiritual transformation of the believer because it is possible to attend church for decades and remain as unchanged as the first day you stepped into the church if the heart is not submitted to God.
The only agent of transformation is the holy spirit, He guides us on this spiritual journey and He alone understands every man’s heart and motives because the heart of man is deep and sometimes downright wicked. May God have mercy on us. Amen.
Spiritual growth is a process and it is a personal journey that cantake place individually and as a group. We must strive for it andmake it a daily priority as we look towards our heavenly destination.
Some good questions towards spiritual transformation are;
- Am I growing as a Christian?
- Am I increasing in love and knowledge of God?
- Am I able to teach others by now?
- Is my life fruitful?
- Will God be proud of me?
- Can I recommend myself to other people as a good Christian?
- I ready for rapture?