In + Re = Trans
Here's a formula I came up with earlier this week:
In-formation + Re-definition = Trans-formation.
I think too many Christians settle for information. We're well informed. We're educated way beyond our level of obedience. But have our hearts and minds been transformed?
I think one key to transformation is redefinition. The way we internalize things is by redefining them in terms that make sense to us. All of us have filters and categories. We process things based on our past experiences. And we've got to use those past experiences to help us personalize truth. Let me give an example.
I've been thinking about the parable of the talents a lot lately. My passion is to unearth buried talent. The mental image I get is of my uncle Allen with his metal detector combing Bedman's beach looking for "buried treasure." That simple connection personalizes or internalizes the parable of the talents because I put it into my categories. I think of it in terms of my past experiences. And it becomes more meaningful. My role as a pastor is to have a metal detector in hand combing "the beach" for God-given potential. That may sound goofy to someone who hasn't had my experience. But that is part of redefinition. It's unique. A metal detector is my way of redefining that information in the parable of the talents. And it transforms the way I think about it.
In-formation + Re-definition = Trans-formation.
I think too many Christians settle for information. We're well informed. We're educated way beyond our level of obedience. But have our hearts and minds been transformed?
I think one key to transformation is redefinition. The way we internalize things is by redefining them in terms that make sense to us. All of us have filters and categories. We process things based on our past experiences. And we've got to use those past experiences to help us personalize truth. Let me give an example.
I've been thinking about the parable of the talents a lot lately. My passion is to unearth buried talent. The mental image I get is of my uncle Allen with his metal detector combing Bedman's beach looking for "buried treasure." That simple connection personalizes or internalizes the parable of the talents because I put it into my categories. I think of it in terms of my past experiences. And it becomes more meaningful. My role as a pastor is to have a metal detector in hand combing "the beach" for God-given potential. That may sound goofy to someone who hasn't had my experience. But that is part of redefinition. It's unique. A metal detector is my way of redefining that information in the parable of the talents. And it transforms the way I think about it.
2 Comments:
In the past I have chosen the term "reflection" instead of re-definition, but they are essentially the same. Life is a series of events and information that without reflection remain meaningless. Unless we take time to digest that which happens to us, both the good and the bad and then respond to it appropriately, then everything is meaningless. Without reflection life becomes a series of static events that have no greater purpose. However, as Christians we are assured that everything happens for a reason. The reflection (redefinition) is also titled wisdom. But it is the combination of knowledge/experiences, reflection, and then response that gives life meaning. Otherwise, we are no better than King Solomon (1 Kings 3 & 4) who had all the wisdom in the world, but never allowed that wisdom to shape his life. Without the three, we are left with the same conclusion that Solomon makes at the end of his life, "everything is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 1).
I think I like "reflection" better :)
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