James Duff May 24th 2015 ~ Being Transformed

Last Friday the St Philips youth group participated in the “Huge Event 2015”. It was held at St Hilda’s and over 500 youth participated. The guest speaker was a youth minister by the name of Tim Hawkins. Tim has been a youth minister for 40 years and believes he is just getting good at it now, at nearly 60 years of age.Tim has written several books and many studies for youth. When I first began my theological studies, his book, Fruit That Will Last, was the first book on youth ministry that I read. It was a true landmark book for me, forming how I saw youth ministry and ministry overall. Tim is a gifted communicator and had all the youth transfixed as he shared from Romans 12:1-2: 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.The big point from Tim’s talk is relevant for all who call themselves disciples of Jesus. He emphasised how easy it is to conform to the pattern of the world. We so often find ourselves just going along with prevailing cultural standards on all types of issues without really questioning them. In the above passage, Paul exhorts us not to conform to worldly ways and Tim urged us to first ask God how he views a particular issue and then ask him to transform us through the Holy Spirit and renew our minds to be like His. Another way of putting this is: “God, what are you saying to me... and what do you want me to do about it?” These questions help us to live in step with the Spirit; they cause us to go into deeper dependance on God and his will for the world and our own lives.After the formal part of the “Huge Event” finished, our 16 youth reflected on what they had heard from Tim. They picked up on one particular illustration Tim had used: Imagine we are driving a brand new Ferrari and we see Jesus on the side of the road. We stop to pick him up but instead of hopping in the passenger side, Jesus walks to the driver’s door and asks us to move over as he wants to be the driver of the car. Even though Jesus can drive the car better than us, we will enjoy the drive more with him driving, we will see the scenery instead of focusing on the road, we just find it hard to let him be the driver. The big question - and challenge - for both these young people and for us is whether we are going to let Jesus be the driver and transform us or is Jesus going to have to conform to our lives? To be transformed, we must completely give over our lives, trusting that only He can bring us life to the full and be the best driver.I spoke with Tim personally after the event with my son Will. Tim told us that he is going to live in Africa, where he will train Christian leaders for the next generation. The reasoning behind the decision is that it will give the biggest bang for the kingdom before he and his wife become too old. Tim could easily stay on the speaking circuit and live a reasonably comfortable lifestyle in Sydney but Jesus has transformed him.Have you been transformed, or are you conforming to the pattern of the world? Please take the time to pray today and then speak with one of the leaders at St Philips if you feel that you need to be transformed by Jesus. This is the safest and best prayer you can ever make.Blessings, James