During my years as a coach, I loved to see the transformation of a team throughout the sea-son. From the time training camp would begin to the start of preseason games up to the regu-lar season, we were a work in progress. Sure, the team was transformed in a visible way by personnel changes, but it was more enjoyable to see how a team mindset changed from op-erating as individuals to one single unit. Some of the truly great teams I was a part of experi-enced the most success when they left the “I” and “me” behind and operated out of the “us” and “we.” That paradigm shift, that transformation of mindset, doesn’t happen all the time. When it does, it’s truly something special, and the results on the field tend to bear that out.
Now that I’ve left the sidelines, I still see the transformation in life, but I see it in different ways. When I watch my precious young grandchildren, it’s fascinating to see them make new discoveries on a daily basis—to observe how their minds are being molded and shaped with each new experience. As we grow older and more set in our ways, that process—and, in many ways, our amusement for life—slows down. However, just because our minds have grown accustomed to our surroundings doesn’t mean they should stay the same. The great thing about how God designed us is that we’re never too old to learn, grow and change. In other words, transformation is a never-ending process—even inside us—if we’ll just embrace it.
The Apostle Paul talks about transformation in Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
I believe Paul is sending a warning message directly to us to steer clear of the common road we so often follow—the worldly path of never-ending wants and desires. Conforming to the patterns of this world might seem comfortable because everyone else is doing it, but, rather ironically, it only leads to loneliness and emptiness.
I’ve mentioned the story several times in this space, but it wasn’t until I reached the lowest point in my professional career that I was able to allow God to transform me. He cleared out the old, worthless junk in my life and heart, and then He restored me by replacing those things with new Christ-centered wants and desires and a renewed and clean heart in Him.
That same transformation story can be true for all of us wanting to pursue a relationship with Christ. But we cannot live a transformational life until we’re open and willing to avoid con-forming to the ways of this world. Instead, we need to make the conscious choice to take up the challenging and transformational adventure of following Him. Like Paul says, we’ll be re-newed and shown what God’s good, pleasing and perfect will is in our lives.
Transformation fits in right next to “sanctification,” “reconciliation,” “consecration” and other words that can make our faith in Christ seem much more complex than it really needs to be. Ultimately, the one true God of this universe made His lesson plan rather simple. He sent His Son, Jesus, to be our Savior and use His life on Earth to share, teach and live out what was intended from the beginning.
Jesus lived such a countercultural life that His own family thought He was crazy (Mark 3:21). But it was that “crazy” life that sparked a movement of love, hope and transformation that has impacted this world for more than 2,000 years.
How will you carry on that impact with your life? It starts by taking the often uncomfortable step of opening your life and heart to Christ and letting Him transform you from the inside out. Once you take that step, nothing will be the same. And trust me—you’ll never want it to be.
Model the Master,
Les Steckel
FCA President/CEO
--This article appears in the September/October 2014 issue of FCA Magazine. To view the issue in its entirety digitally, click here: Sept/Oct 2014 Digital
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