Preaching Towards Transformational Life Change

[James Nored]

Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer have written a new book, Transformational Church: Creating A New Scorecard for Congregations. This book appears to have obvious similarities to Reggie McNeal's Missional Renaissance: Creaing a New Scorecard for the Church. Both seek to redefine what success is in a local church, moving from institutional to relational, transformational, and missional markers.

Stetzer has also starting blogging some about transformational preaching. To me, this raises the question--why are so few lives really transformed? Why do we see people struggle with the same sins over and over, and even ourselves suffer from this? Are we not promised life in the Spirit?

I know one thing. What we are currently doing to bring about life change is not working well. My father once taught a Sunday morning Bible class with about 80 30 somethings. He asked people to raise their hands if they thought that Bible class changed behavior. Not a single person raised their hands. What would they say about preaching?

So, my question is, What kind of preaching brings about life change? What has you seen work and not work--and why?

[William Lloyd Cain]

Great question. I've struggled with this for years and don't have a detailed answer. However, in general terms it seems to me, transormational preaching must center on a relationship with Jesus Christ rather than purity of doctrine. Although the latter is definitely not unimportant, my experience has been that we have majored in the latter and often misunderstood and minored in the former. Please God, forgive us and help us learn how to focus on what is important.

[Bill Bowman]

I believe the person listening to a sermon will be moved by what is said if he or she is preconditioned. What do I mean? What draws me closer to God is when I am going through hard times. Hard times makes me know that I need God's help in my life. So when I hear from the pulpit something that will help me to defend myself against Satan or help me realize some aspect of God that I can take into my life, then I could say I am glad I came to worship God and take home some practical things to help me cope.
Bill Bowman

[Gailyn Van Rheenen]

A short answer to your question is that many Christians are mere consumers--to attend church to fulfill their own needs. They have not, nowever, gone through any spiritual formation process to become disciples of Christ. Being obedient to God's will in Christ--"being transformed into his nature" (2 Cor. 3:18) is a vastly different motivation than seeking a place to have needs fulfilled.

The harst reality is that we attract people to come to churches rather than walking with them to become obedient disciples. The church thus is frequently nominalized.

[James Nored]

Gailyn, this is too true. The church is filled with spiritual consumers. Just think about how consumeristic even the idea of "picking a church" is. Rarely does someone say, "Where can I be used most by God to serve others." Usually the question is, "What do you have to offer me?" And the church with the most religious goods and services wins. What is lost is a call to sacrifice and the resultant personal transformation.

So, what are you discovering in Mission Alive and in your work back in North America about the best way to move from Christian consumerism to Christian discipleship?

Gailyn Van Rheenen said:

A short answer to your question is that many Christians are mere consumers--to attend church to fulfill their own needs. They have not, nowever, gone through any spiritual formation process to become disciples of Christ. Being obedient to God's will in Christ--"being transformed into his nature" (2 Cor. 3:18) is a vastly different motivation than seeking a place to have needs fulfilled.

The harst reality is that we attract people to come to churches rather than walking with them to become obedient disciples. The church thus is frequently nominalized.