When I finish a series people often ask where I’m headed next. On September 14th, the same day of several significant changes at KCBT, I am starting a series called Building World Changers: Direction in Real Time. I want to tell the part of the Apostle Paul’s story that is seldom told – the story of how Saul the Pharisee became the Apostle Paul. What are the ingredients, the building blocks, the key elements that made up his personal development and how do we make application to our lives today?

The very first thing to explore is his transformation. One day the resurrected Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus. Paul had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and his life was forever transformed.

I like the word transformation. I prefer that to words like conversion, saved or born again. Those are all good words, or course – biblical words. There’s nothing wrong and everything right about them. The problem is that overuse and wrong use of these words by many followers of Jesus have weakened their ability to communicate. Many think of conversion as changing churches or religions. A born again experience has entered the vernacular and is understood as a new start, no more, no less. Saved – from what?

The past few decades of shallow Christianity have given many the idea that because they once prayed a prayer, “went forward” in a church, or held up a hand during an invitation means that they are good to go. Too often churches have reinforced this concept by appearing to be more interested in adding notches to their Gospel guns than actually nurturing people in spiritual growth.

I can hear the objections. “Those are Bible words! We can’t ‘dumb down’ the Gospel. People need to understand them because they are from the Bible.”

Of course we need to understand these words. And if churches are doing their job of teaching people the Bible instead of serving warmed-over pop psychology, people who have been transformed will come to understand these words and many others in due time. The problem is when we self-righteously cross our arms and demand that unbelievers without understanding understand our understanding of biblical words and concepts before we let them into the club. This is a great trick if we can get away with it. We preach that people without personal knowledge of God have no understanding. Then we put the onus on them because they don’t measure up to our level of understanding.

Ironically, if we can just coax them to say the right words and/or pray the right prayer, we pronounce them saved, converted or born again as though they had just learned the secret handshake or password. Is this all there is to it?

No! I believe that a genuine encounter with God results in transformation. If not, then let’s just cut 2Corinthians 5:17 out of the Bible. (Look it up). Transformation means a change of nature. By the way, this is what those other words used to represent. Praying a prayer is a great way to begin a transformed life, but if there is no transformation there was never a real prayer. Being transformed does not mean instant maturity or being faultless. It simply means life is totally different now becaue we are different from the inside out. God has transformed us by his grace and mercy. Paul is an excellent example of transformation.