Alan Funt would set up situations which were filmed secretly. After the unsuspecting person was embarrassed or responded in a memorable way, the participants would sing out…smile, you’re on candid camera!
Think for a few moments, what the results would be if
an undercover hidden camera crew followed you or your church family around for
a week? Would the crew find a group of stiff-necked,
unhappy, judgmental people, keeping up with the Jones’? Or would the crew find
a loving, joyful, God-honoring people, serving in their community and abroad?
Hmm…
The purpose of spiritual transformation is in the word,
‘transformation.’ We want to evolve and
change in a positive way, and with God’s help; we will. So it doesn’t matter as
much whether you and your church family would have fared well during this
experiment last week; but it does
matter how you present yourself today, and tomorrow, and in the days to come.
Scripture says that when we become Christians, we are born anew and that we are
new
creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). This change must be outwardly visible and
it must be God honoring.
On our spiritual transformation journey, we learn in James
2:14-20, that it doesn’t make any logical sense for us to say that we have faith, only to act in ways which deny our faith. The passage goes on to say, if our commitment
to God is in words alone; that’s not good enough. In other words, talk is cheap.
A new pastor friend of mine puts it this way, “There is no such thing as real
belief, without an action.”
Our best way of demonstrating our spiritual transformation
and our faith in God is through works performed in faith. When we attempt, in
our mere mortal minds, to understand Christ’s sacrifice for us, and we reach
the point of complete joy in God; it’s because we realize how wonderful His
love is for our flawed, damaged selves…and it is an emotional experience. This acknowledgement
gives us the desire to respond in the only way we know how; through sharing our
experience and our love with someone else. Through our actions. That’s what it
means to show our ‘changed selves’ through works performed in faith.
You know the refrain of the Christian standard which
goes…”And they’ll know we are Christians by our love…by our love, yes, they’ll
know we are Christians by our love.” The million dollar questions are:
●Do
they know?
●How will
they know?
If your somber answer is that others do not know and
see your love, why is that the case? Perhaps it’s because you have not explored
God’s unique purpose for your life. Or, perhaps, you know your uniqueness, but
you are not serving in your spiritual gift (Romans
12:4-8) and according to your strengths and talents. The only way to serve
in joyful obedience is to determine
your spiritual gift and serve in accordance with it. Otherwise, your attempts
at love are a noisy gong, or clanging cymbal (1Corinthians
13:1).
Thankfully, we are not on the reality show, Smile, You’re
on Candid Congregation; but it’s
something to contemplate; and it’s something to work on as we become
transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Action steps:
1.
Thank God that He knows that you are a work
undergoing spiritual transformation. Thank God for making you aware that a big part
of your spiritual transformation is in responding to those areas He wants transformed
so that you ‘change’ into His likeness.
2.
Do you know which spiritual gift in Romans
12:6-8 is your primary spiritual gift?
(To learn more about spiritual gifts
check out: https://www.tricordpublishing.com/Work.html
)
3.
How are you living out your faith via your
spiritual gift?
4.
When you think about a real life Candid Congregation scenario of your
life…what would be revealed? What areas need improvement?
5.
What is one simple action step you can take
this week to begin to demonstrate your faith through works?
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