Be Transformed

Be Transformed
Change is such a magical and important word...

This is the word with which President Obama had won the presidency, when all his proponents raised one and the same slogan: Change. And with the idea of gearing the USA towards a better future, after a lot many troubles, he could make American voters forget everything else: parties, colour, religion and age, and remember just one thing: the necessity of change. To this end, he used a Facebook network of 700,000 members, and 129.000 mobile phones, to reach to the US newer generations. That is why it was said that he won thanks to the globalised youths! Still, Obama’s change is one thing, whereas radical change is another. The first is good, of course, which is concerned with the standard of living, health and financial security, but in the end it is a change that serves temporary needs. Radical change, however, is one that serves both the present and the future: the temporal and the eternal!

In this regard, H.G. Bishop Makarios says:
Change is a feature of Life. All things develop and change. One can even say that the one constant thing is change. As far as change is concerned, people take one of three stances:
1. Some are contented with whatever they have, and find no need for change. They might even be afraid of change or adventure, and shy away from trying things. They might have grown desperate after previous attempts. Hence, they never develop. And who never steps forward ultimately steps back. Such people tend to be lazy and inert. Yet, when there is a will there is a way: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13). So, those who are capable of changing are the conscious, not the submissive.
2. Some are adventurous and are fond of constantly changing; they see this as a healthy attitude. Condoliza Ryce had once been thrown out, in her early youth, from an egg restaurant. Her mother told her back then: “You might not be able to get a meal in an egg restaurant, but you can become the President of the USA!” She did in fact become the strongest woman worldwide when she was National Security Counsellor, and then Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
3. All that is quite different from that other type of change which reflects a kind of tension in the personality, where a person cannot maintain a state of mind for any length of time. Such a type of personality runs the risk of never bearing fruit; indeed, this is called instability.
But the required change is not one of the outside; it should rather be in the essence, or from the inside: “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). So, the outward change should derive from the inward one. It is not superficial (schema), but essential (morphe). So, we can say that metania is really about “change of mind or conscience”, which is undoubtedly an action from within.

First: Bases of Change
The radical change we are talking about was charted for us by St Paul when he said, in Romans 12: “Be transformed ...” It is not about a mere change of outward features, rather the whole being of a human. If we were to ask him: How?, he would have replied: There are four bases to the radical change, namely:
1. The renewing of your minds.
2. The membership in the Body of Christ.
3. The investment of talents in the Service.
4. The faithful Testimony within the society.
1- Renewing the Mind with Repentance
In the Greek language “change of mind” is metania, where meta = change, and nia comes from nous = mind. So, this signifies that someone who repents is really someone who has mindfully thought about the grave consequences of detaching oneself from God, and indulging oneself in sins, and concluded that Sin:
1. Destroys the spirit since it shuts us away from God.
2. Destroys the thought which then suffers darkness and interference.
3. Destroys the soul as we suffer the mutiny of the instincts and desires.
4. Destroys the body so, smoking destroys the lungs and the heart, heavy drinking destroys the liver and the bladder, narcotics destroy the brain, and adultery destroys the whole body with a variety of diseases.
5. Destroys relationships since someone who is spiritually deviant becomes a failure socially, as no one would dare to entrust him/her with anything.
Holiness, on the other hand, is constructive for the spirit (when we get satisfied with God), the mind (when it gets illuminated by the Holy Bible), the soul (when it gets disciplined with spiritual struggling and the Grace), the body (when it stays away from the bad habits we mentioned, and uses sports and activities), and the relationships (since those who are spiritually successful are socially successful as well, love the others and are loved by them).
2- Membership in the Body of Christ (the Church)
We become members in the Body of Jesus and the church, by faith, baptism and repentance.

Our struggle + Divine Grace = Change for the bette