Romans 12:2 says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Often times, when this scripture is spoken of it is used to describe how the Christian is supposed to be set a part from the world; renewing one's mind from worldly lust and desires. But can we also say from the worldly institutions of religions that have been set up by men ie. traditions too? Holding on to traditions and mere opinions of men can keep us from knowing the good and perfect will of God sometimes can it not? Hmm. I'll leave you to ponder that.
Let's look at the definitions of renew and transform.
Renew: to make like new: restore to freshness, vigor, or perfection
Transform: to change in composition or structure, to change the outward form or appearance of; to change character or condition
A lot of times, religion has called us to conform to a particular set of thoughts accepted by a group of people or a doctrine that is partially true in nature. Then it teaches us how to transform the outward appearance (as mentioned in the definition above) through dress and action while our heart remains filthy and we're lifeless on the inside. Religion grooms us to depict the perfect picture of the fruitless fig tree in Matthew. Relationship is what brings about the change in character and condition. That is often missed because we have people in our ears telling us what we should and shouldn't do instead of leading us to a deeper relationship with God by teaching us grace and how to embrace His love.
For the majority of my graduate school studies I was blessed to be able to study a theory known as transformative (transformational) learning in depth. According to Patricia Cranton, it is a theory of deep learning that goes beyond just content knowledge and memorization of facts. "It is a desirable process for adults to learn to think for themselves, through true emancipation from sometimes mindless or unquestioning acceptance of what we have come to know through our life experiences, especially through culture, religions, and personalities may predispose us towards, without our active engagement and questioning of how we know what we know." Religion teaches how to quote scriptures and have all of the churchy cliches' in our repertoire (which means a list or supply of dramas, operas, pieces, or parts that a company or person is prepared to perform, how ironic). Relationship enables us to have a intimate experience with scriptures so that we not only have head knowledge but experience because we find meaning and connection in our everyday lives.
Transformative learning just doesn't happen on it's own. There's usually what the theory calls a disorienting dilemma, which is something that causes an extreme change or discomfort to someone such as: loss of a job, divorce, marriage, exposure to new culture). Some other reasons include recognition of one's discontent, self examiniations with feelings of fear, anger, guilt or shame, and a critical assessment of assumptions.
The things that triggered my own journey of transformation were attributed to all of those things. I had just graduated from college with my undergraduate degree and everything that gave me some sense of purpose or value was no more. As a result, I began to recognize how discontent I was with life and myself. Then I was exposed to a different "church" culture from what I was used to. Those individuals showed me a different side of being saved. I saw peace, happiness, joy and love being shown and I felt it as well. I wanted what they had. At this point in my life I couldn't stay where I was and I couldn't go back. I had no choice but to move forward or else I was going to die! It was a hard transition to make. I spent months in deep depression, guilt and feelings of anger while STILL attending church, dying on the inside.
During this time I found people with similar struggles and listened to their testimonies. The Bible tells us that we are overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Testimonies give people hope which in turn gives them strength. It defintiely did that for me. The testimony of 2 well known people, Joyce Meyer and Mali Music helped me along with the lives of some ladies that I follow on Facebook. You never know who is watching you or heeding to what you say. It can make or break someone.
Click Here to view Mali's Testimony
What is your trigger today? Have you been all churched out? Have options become few? Do you desire more truth? It's not too early or late to start your journey from religion to relationship. The king is waiting with arms wide open...for you.
Click Here to listen to Tamela Mann's 'Take Me to the King"
For more information on the theory of transformative learning click here or go to http://transformativelearningtheory.com
