Experiencing Gods Best through His Transformation Process

Will You Seek to Experience Maximum Faith in Your Life or Settle for Comfortable Mediocrity?

We love to read statistics from surveys that show we are succeeding in life or that the future is bright and hopeful. When we encounter statistics that suggest we are not fulfilling our potential, much less failing at something important, a common tendency is to challenge the accuracy or the methodology of the survey. Believe me, I know this routine first-hand, having conducted national surveys and reported on the spiritual faith and practices of Americans for the past thirty years. Sharing survey data is sometimes a satisfying experience; others times, well, it gets ugly. When research is conducted to provide practical prescriptions and applications that produce positive growth, it can be an invaluable resource. My latest research, conducted as the basis of the book Maximum Faith, was designed to give you new insights into how to become the holy, fulfilled, and loving person that God created you to be. If you take what youre about to read seriously, it could spark a significant and incredibly positive change in your life. Religion in America More than a quarter-century ago I began exploring various aspects of religious life in America. To summarize some of the critical trends from that research, the following outcomes are evident: 1. Americans have generally positive feelings about religion and the Judeo-Christian faith. Most adults consider themselves to be spiritual people and say that religion and faith play an important role in their life. More than four out of five adults say they are

Christians; only one out of ten adults say they have no religious faith or consider themselves to be atheist/agnostic. 2. While most Americans have consciously adopted a body of religious beliefs and practices, they are becoming less likely to engage in corporate religious activity and are becoming less interested in attaining theological and doctrinal education. 3. As religion has become an object of increased public debate and decreased public consensus, Christian adults have become less certain about the content and the accuracy of their own beliefs and less willing to defend their beliefs in public. At the same time, belief in absolute moral and spiritual truths has plummeted while acceptance of the existence of multiple deities and of multiple paths to eternal salvation has escalated. 4. Americans love a good deal; the idea promoted by thousands of Christian churches and parachurch ministries that they can receive the free gift of salvation has appealed to tens of millions of Americans over the past three decades. The outcome, as reported through our surveys, has been a larger proportion of adults who have accepted that free gift, but without much understanding of the nature, implications and responsibilities associated with that gift. Thats a very brief overview of some of our recent religious history. So, while social commentators frequently note that Americans are religious, what they fail to note is that most Americans have embraced general religiosity but have not really pursued maximum faith in the God of Israel. If you were to objectively evaluate all the data, as I have tried to do, I believe you would reach the same conclusion that I have: astoundingly few Americans who identify themselves as Christians and even a minority of those who might be deemed to be born again

by traditional measures appear to be serious about letting God transform them into the person He desires them to be. I implore you to consider this with an open mind. Perhaps you are among the millions of us who have been religious and have viewed God and the Bible with the best of intentions, but you have not really fully invested yourself in living for God. Not co-existing with Him; living for Him. Theres a big difference. It took me a long time to understand that distinction. Maybe you have not yet wrestled with the implications of this distinction. Its not mere semantics. My most recent research, described in Maximum Faith, shows how the vast majority of American Christians have denied God His rightful place on the throne of their lives. Our default response, driven by cultural expectations and personal preferences, is to withhold control of our lives so that we, not God, can reign supreme all under the cover of being good and responsible Christians. More often than not, we treat God as our religion consultant and turn to the Bible as an emergency reference book. Most Americans point to their typical faith practices e.g., church attendance, Christian education involvement, personal Bible study, daily prayer, freely donating money to ministries, participation in a small group, etc. as evidence of personal piety. We somehow overlook the fact that our religious profile is more similar to that of the Pharisees and Sadducees- the very people whom Jesus castigated for living by the letter of the law without embracing its spirit than to that of the early disciples, whom Jesus said would be known by their love and by the fruit produced by their transformed lives. Even if we narrow the scope of our focus to born-again Christians, the picture is not flattering. In essence, the born-again community has invited God to reside in our hearts, accepting the special gift of love and forgiveness that He offered, along with His promise of

eternal salvation. Sadly, once we felt certain that we had His gift securely in hand, we abandoned Him and have continued to operate by the standards and values of the world, searching for earthly treasures and pleasures. That is why the research has consistently shown over the past two decades that the lives of born-again Christians are essentially indistinguishable from those of people who do not claim Jesus Christ as their savior. We may be religious but we are not truly transformed by our faith in and relationship with God. Only a tiny proportion of born again adults get beyond their profession of faith to experience the more robust and significant life that is available through Christ to His followers. A major reason why few Americans experience the richness of the Christian life is that we do not know what to do beyond reading and memorizing more Bible verses, attending church services more consistently, donating money to worthy causes, volunteering a few hours at church, and discussing our faith in Jesus with family and friends. And unfortunately, my research reveals that a majority of believers who figure out where the journey goes, and what it takes to maximize the opportunity God grants us by completing the journey to wholeness, instead choose to settle for a less complete and fulfilling life. In other words, most Christians have a relationship with God that could be described as active but stalled a connection that has plateaued in its passion and influence, despite the continued commitment of time and energy to religious activity. To use an automotive metaphor, the engine is running but the gears are not engaged; were burning lots of fuel but not getting anywhere. Unfortunately, after surveying the spiritual journey of several thousand people, it seems that we are pretty random about our efforts to experience genuine God-driven transformation. Think of it as a mindless mutiny: we refuse to give God control of our lives, yet were not really

guiding the ship toward a particular destination that reflects our ultimate best interests; we just keep meandering in the ocean of life hoping to find an appealing place to dock. Forgive the impertinence, but sometimes it seems as if the American Church the aggregate collection of Christ believers in the U.S. is indeed a ship of fools. We are not so much Christ followers as we are Christ admirers who happily listen to amazing stories about His life and His teachings, then go about our business without the principles imparted making an impact on who we are. So What Is Transformation? Lets assume that genuine, God-driven transformation is what we need. What does that mean? In a nutshell, we might define it as the process that enables us to gradually die to sin, self, and society in order to fully and profoundly love God and people. Jesus Himself indicated as much by saying the most important commandments challenge us to do this (Mark 12:30-31). Paul, one of the classic examples of a transformed person, underscored the necessity of this quest when he said that the only thing that matters is being transformed by God into a new creation (Galatians 6:15). Another way of describing the concept is that transformation means we are driven to become holy by submitting to God and consistently pursuing His will, being set apart by the blood of Christ to experience a unique freedom and a new identity through that blood and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Why Dont Christians Pursue and Experience Transformation? If this is our highest calling, and if it is such a desirable experience, then why arent Christians aware of it, much less devoted to it? Why arent Christian churches designed around processes for facilitating such a metamorphosis?

Turning again to the research, it points out that there are numerous reasons why few believers experience genuine transformation. Here are some of the dominant obstacles. 1. Christians do not consider transformation to be a life goal or spiritual calling germane to them. Americans have bought into the notion of comfort and security. The journey to wholeness is challenging and includes ample doses of suffering, surrender, submission, sacrifice, persecution, and perhaps even downward mobility. Without understanding the complete context of such challenges, transformation is not as appealing as a safe and cushy lifestyle. 2. Churches define success according to attendance, budget, and availability of programs rather than individual and community transformation. Consequently, maintenance of traditions and systems trumps transformation. New paradigms and metrics are rejected as inappropriate, unnecessary, or redundant. 3. While Jesus defined successful faith on the basis of fruit, American Christians and their churches measure it according to knowledge, activity, and emotion. 4. To become transformed, we have to let God rule our lives while we become servants. The reality of surrendering control to God, submitting to His plans and metrics, and allowing Him to have His way with us seems like weakness and defeat. Our culture continually reminds us that we should never give in or give up; we must always look out for and take care of ourselves. 5. Americans inhabit an imitative society: we mimic the lives of people whom we admire or find appealing. The problem is that there are so few living models of transformation for Christians to admire and follow. Those who qualify suffer the indignity of being marginalized as aberrations unique or odd, certainly not those

who are living a normal life. (Who could be another Mother Teresa? Who has the calling of Billy Graham? Wasnt Martin Luther King just a man for the moment?) 6. Our society provides an endless supply of distractions and distortions that keep us focused on matters other than Gods will. Transformation is counter-cultural; yet, most Christians want to fit in and achieve mainstream acceptance rather than resist the currents of society. 7. Life is a spiritual battle. Believers have been effectively blinded to Gods desires for them. Our leaders have failed to direct us to follow a viable, long-term strategy for wholeness and holiness, preferring to focus on immediate programmatic and procedural urgencies. So much of what draws our attention amounts to little more than diversions by the enemy which produce a strategic disaster for the long-term well-being of the Church. 8. We develop our core values, beliefs, and behaviors when we are children. But very few families, churches, schools and relationships are focused on facilitating godly transformation among young people. Instead, we end up allowing our children to embrace the objectives of the society we are called to shape; we wind up being shaped by it. Moving Forward Once again, please forgive my forwardness, but you are likely to be among the 98% of American adults who have yet the reach the final stops of the journey to Christian maturity. The journey has little to do with your age, so dont assume that its just a matter of time before you get there: people in their seventies are no more likely to reach those stages of maturity than are people in their forties.

No, what you probably need are the motivation to make a commitment to become who God has created you to be; a road map that identifies the stops on the journey, describing what happens at each stop and how that fits into your efforts to mature; and a set of tools that will help you stay focused and moving forward. Lets look at those components one at a time. The motivation to become whom God created you to be must come from you. Youve probably read more than your fair share of motivational books and listened to numerous inspirational sermons and speeches. Yet, here you are. You see, you can get a temporary lift from such resources, but ultimately only you can motivate you. It boils down to a very simple question: do you want the best that God has to offer for you and are willing to trust Him and work with Him to get it, or would you prefer to roll the dice and experience the best that you, personally, can facilitate for your life? Most people give lip service to the former, but physical weight to the latter. Once motivated to pursue the best that God has for you, having good intentions and some motivation wont suffice. Armed with those mental and emotional commitments alone, you are resigned to a random and unproductive journey. To make progress, you need a road map. Thats what the research behind Maximum Faith is about: identifying where you are and where you need to go, and how to get from here to there. For instance, after surveying the lives and experiences of thousands of people over a sixyear period, it became clear that the journey to wholeness consists of ten stops. Most Americans never get to Stop Four. Most Christians never get beyond Stop Five. Are you willing to settle for a life in which God offers you the joy and influence of experiencing the entire journey, but you instead quit half-way (or less) through the journey?

My research found that this is not a growth process that is without hardships and pitfalls. (In fact, one portion of the research found that a large share of the people who figure out whats coming as they pursue holiness choose to retreat to previously mastered stops on the trail, preferring the comfort and security of mediocrity to the challenges of godliness.) But thankfully, our Father in Heaven is an orderly and trustworthy God; He can be trusted to empower us as we allow Him to determine how we grow, within the boundaries and contours He has designed for our growth and development. My interviews with those who have reached the upper stops on this journey cannot contain their gratitude for having been allowed the privilege of experiencing all that God has had in store them and He has that in store for you, if you are willing to partner with Him on that journey. Along the way you will need additional tools to make sense of new experiences and challenges, or to master the opportunities you encounter. Those tools whether they be information, relationships, accountability, self-diagnostic exercises, encouragement, or other elements are the very kinds of resources that the Church exists to provide. And those are the kind of tools that the maximumfaith.com website also exists to provide. We are building those tools now and will be sharing them as they become available. I invite you to return here often to see what is new and available for you as together we take the ultimate journey. But as you become more aware of the nature of the journey and what it takes to become the person God intends you to be, you will also find resources and tools available elsewhere, for our God is a loving and resourceful creator who will never set you up for failure. He loves you too much for that! Commit to the Journey

Thanks for considering these things. Realize that your life is too precious to God for you to squander it in pursuit of the shiny but superficial baubles and applause the world dangles before us. The apostle Paul encourages us to fight the good fight of faith. And it definitely is a battle, one we fight every moment of every day. But you need not fight it alone. And you need not fight it blindly, without a sense of where you are headed and what it will take to get there. I pray that you will consider reading Maximum Faith and then partnering with us and many others here, at maximumfaith.com, to persevere on our journey to wholeness. Love, respect and abundant blessings to you, George Barna and the Maximum Faith team

2011, George Barna.