Transformation: Did Lee Miss the Point?

Cal · 10-21-2011, 08:38 AM

One of the central themes of Lee's ministry was the transformation of the believer into the image of Christ, meaning the changing of his inner being, spirit and soul, into something that matched Christ.

Lee had an unusal take on this, however. According to him simply the act of "adding the element of God" through fellowship, prayer and other spritual experience "automatically" led to transformation. Although Lee stressed obedience, he rarely directly tied obeying the Spirit with being transformed by the Spirit. Rather he often seemed to imply that transformation could take place without being obedient, simply by taking in the Spirit.

So LRC faithful would do all kinds of things to get "filled with the Spirit," hoping that the simple fact of "enjoying the Lord" would change them.

In my experience, this is something of a false hope. As I've gone on, I've become aware that being changed by the Spirit is directly related to being obedient to the Spirit. Enjoying the Lord and being filled with the Spirit sets the stage and fuels me, so to speak, for acts of obedience, but it seems it is the obedience, the saying Amen and the willingness to be changed, which are crucial.

Lee stressed being transformed (itself a non-typical word, most Christians prefer the less dramatic "changed") as something "metabolic," citing that the Greek word rendered transformed in Romans is "metamorphos" like the metamorphoses of a caterpillar into a butterfly. Although this is not wrong, he stressed that aspect of it so much that LRCers lost sight that God was seeking to change them, that is their hearts and souls, not just on some mysterious metaphysical level (which we couldn't understand anyway, but Lee loved to talk about it), but on the level of what we think, feel and decide--the level of what's important to us, where we actually live.

Further, a major plank in Lee's theology was that that God got added to or "wrought into" our inner being. I'm not sure this is accurate at all. I think God changes our hearts and the more he does the more he can dwell comfortably in us and be seen in us. But whether that means that "more" of God is added as time goes by I believe is very questionable. In fact, I think it's flat wrong.

If I just come out of a good church meeting and feel filled with the Spirit, people may say "he's got a lot of God." But if thirty minutes later I'm screaming at my kids and losing my temper, what happened to all that "God" that was "added" to me?

10-21-2011, 08:38 AM	#1
Cal Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: USA Posts: 4,333	Transformation: Did Lee Miss the Point? One of the central themes of Lee's ministry was the transformation of the believer into the image of Christ, meaning the changing of his inner being, spirit and soul, into something that matched Christ. Lee had an unusal take on this, however. According to him simply the act of "adding the element of God" through fellowship, prayer and other spritual experience "automatically" led to transformation. Although Lee stressed obedience, he rarely directly tied obeying the Spirit with being transformed by the Spirit. Rather he often seemed to imply that transformation could take place without being obedient, simply by taking in the Spirit. So LRC faithful would do all kinds of things to get "filled with the Spirit," hoping that the simple fact of "enjoying the Lord" would change them. In my experience, this is something of a false hope. As I've gone on, I've become aware that being changed by the Spirit is directly related to being obedient to the Spirit. Enjoying the Lord and being filled with the Spirit sets the stage and fuels me, so to speak, for acts of obedience, but it seems it is the obedience, the saying Amen and the willingness to be changed, which are crucial. Lee stressed being transformed (itself a non-typical word, most Christians prefer the less dramatic "changed") as something "metabolic," citing that the Greek word rendered transformed in Romans is "metamorphos" like the metamorphoses of a caterpillar into a butterfly. Although this is not wrong, he stressed that aspect of it so much that LRCers lost sight that God was seeking to change them, that is their hearts and souls, not just on some mysterious metaphysical level (which we couldn't understand anyway, but Lee loved to talk about it), but on the level of what we think, feel and decide--the level of what's important to us, where we actually live. Further, a major plank in Lee's theology was that that God got added to or "wrought into" our inner being. I'm not sure this is accurate at all. I think God changes our hearts and the more he does the more he can dwell comfortably in us and be seen in us. But whether that means that "more" of God is added as time goes by I believe is very questionable. In fact, I think it's flat wrong. If I just come out of a good church meeting and feel filled with the Spirit, people may say "he's got a lot of God." But if thirty minutes later I'm screaming at my kids and losing my temper, what happened to all that "God" that was "added" to me?