Not A Little Less A Caterpillar, Pt1

The message of Paul, that much of the modern American church seems to fail to grasp, is that becoming a Christian isn’t about one simply becoming not quite as sinful as the world around him but is about his having a radical, complete, revolutionary transformation of his whole person and life. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Co 5:17). Being a Christian isn’t about the difference of degree but of kind. A Christian’s heart isn’t a little better, a little cleaner; it is a new, changed heart, a different kind of heart. A Christian’s lifestyle isn’t a little purer; it is a completely different lifestyle. Statistically, American Christianity seems to believe that being a Christian is, in fact, a difference of degree: These are already several years old statistics: 27% of non-Christians will buy a lottery ticket this week. 23% of Christians will. 87% of non-Christians will watch a movie with nudity in it. 76% of Christians will. Several researches have revealed that the rate of sex-before marriage among evangelical “Christian” youth is almost the same as that among non-Christian youth. These statistics seem to bear out that the common accepted concept of a Christian’s life is viewed as a difference of degree not kind. When such becomes the case, the difference in degree will rapidly shrink. “Christians” don’t get drunk, but they do have a “few.” Christians don’t say “G*d d*mn.” They euphemistically substitute with “Gosh Dang.” This isn’t legalistic nit picking; it is simply illustrative of the point. Years of erroneously proclaiming a message that, since salvation isn’t performance based, the “saved’s” performance doesn’t matter either has taken its toll. It is true that my becoming saved is not based on my performance—thank God; it is not true that my being saved does not affect my performance. Salvation is not performance based. Salvation is by grace. But, the saved have been radically transformed. Their desires, values, aspirations—their hearts—have been changed. A new heart will evidence itself in new life. The saved are not just those with a little less sinful heart. They are those with a completely new heart. The new heart abhors sin. Metamorphism is like grace in that it happens to the caterpillar in spite of its ugliness. But, metamorphism doesn’t leave the caterpillar as it found him. The marvel of metamorphism isn’t that the caterpillar acts and looks a little less a caterpillar. It is that he becomes a butterfly. He no longer crawls along the earth. He flies in the sky.