Transformation

Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." (Luke 15:1-2)

Yesterday in the morning message I made a quick comparison of “transactional” leadership and “transformational” leadership. Admittedly, it’s a broad subject for such a quick comment. However, the context of Luke 15 stirred me to make the comparison. Jesus shared three parables of grace and redemption in order to reveal something to the grumbling Pharisees who were disturbed by the sinners who gathered to hear Jesus. The Pharisees appear to be deeply threatened by such grace and redemption. The elder brother in the third parable exemplifies their offense. Redemption cannot be reduced to a mere transactional exchange. We can never offer anything that equals what we receive. God’s gift is greater than our offering. Instead God’s leadership (lordship) in our lives is always transformational. In exchange for our surrender, we are re-born and continually molded into the image of Christ. Transactional leadership maintains a healthy impersonal distance between participants. It also implies an ability to measure the exchange. In contrast, leadership that transforms stirs an image in my mind of a Father running toward a wayward son who is hungry, tired and empty-handed. The transformation begins thet moment he Father embraces him and it continues as leads him down the path home.

Perspective

I spent some time at Nick's school last night. It was an opportunity to meet his teachers and walk through his schedule. There's something interesting that happens when you go to school as a parent on a night like last night. Our actions somewhat mirror those of an eighth-grader. Last night we listened to the principle give us instructions. We listened for the bell to signal the beginning of each class. We walked through through the halls, talked to our friends (other parents) in between classes and then entered each classroom, found our seats, listened to the teacher, took notes and anxiously waited for the bell to ring to signal the end of each class. Judging from our actions, we looked liked eighth-graders. But we're not. Our identity is much deeper than what is observable from the outside. Within us lie experiences that give us identity, perspective and purpose. In the world we live in, we sometimes allow the "externals" to define us much more so than we should.