The key to transformation: Do you understand what you’re reading?

The key to transformation: Do you understand what you’re reading?

By Josimar Salum

The great challenge that every student of the Bible faces is summed up in the classic question that Philip asked the Eunuch upon approaching his chariot and hearing him read from Isaiah the prophet: “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30)

Throughout the whole history of the church, interpretations of Scripture have created who we are, have formed our lives and have defined what the modus Vivendi of the “church” is today. Interpretations of Scripture have been filtered through concepts pre-established by church history and traditions, doctrines and dogmas, our culture, and the inevitable worldviews formed through our own spiritual experiences. They are also filtered through emotional spirituality and even through our own psychological predisposition.

A correct interpretation of Scripture and our matching faith is revealed through the love relationship that we have with God and with our neighbor. It is revealed through behaviors formed out of expressions of genuine biblical works that we develop and practice over time, and also through the mission that we fulfill each day as disciples of Jesus.

We are challenged by the Spirit of God, which guides us in all Truth to respond to the same question that Philip asked the eunuch. We don’t necessarily need all the history, the traditions, the doctrines and the dogmas, the worldviews and spiritual experiences, and we don’t necessarily need an exclusive person to explain the Scripture to us.

It is so frustrating to discover only too late that we have been wrapped up in fables, that we still take part in silly superstitions, and that for an entire lifetime we have believed, preached and taught lies as if they were Truths and mere inventions as if they were true revelations. We teach these inventions and fables as Truths when in fact they are simply imitations of something in history. Most of us have a tendency to act like parrots; we usually repeat what we hear without even taking the time to give proper thought to what we are repeating.

I’ve been pausing to think seriously if what we believe in is actually the Truth and I haven’t had any difficulty in coming to the conclusion that much of what we believe in is actually fantasy, myths, and lies.

I’ve been reflecting and thinking seriously if what we have been trusting in as the Truth is truly the Truth. And I’ve had no fear that in doing this I would be disconnecting myself from Jesus.

It is impossible to fall away from Jesus when we are seeking the Truth. It is the search for the Truth that brings us closer and closer to Jesus, thought by thought, step by step.

We need to question and investigate beliefs in order to find out if what we think and know today is truly biblical and if what we believe is the Truth. We must repent and begin this process. For it is in this process that we clearly experience a transformation of the mind, of our thoughts and our knowledge in the face of the Truth without getting ourselves worked up emotionally.

We must voluntarily and desperately desire the Truth, to know the Truth, to experience the Truth if we want to be servants of Jesus and of the Truth, and indeed, slaves to true Freedom.

The truth isn’t found in formulas, theories, doctrines, philosophies or theorems. The Truth is a Person. Jesus is the Truth.

Creativity is muzzled on when many of our leaders are afraid to respond to questions from their followers or they are afraid of having their faith tested. Any theology that cannot be questioned or confronted is one that fears the scrutiny of the Word of God. A new idea that cannot be explored further is suffocated by the fear of being discovered that it was wrong.

Along with this there comes the institutionalization and petrifaction of a “revelation” which creates a morbid environment where all creativity is rejected and classified as heresy. This is done as a matter of course to maintain the “status quo” and the comfort that is provided by sameness.

Creativity is stifled when there is no desire for experiencing change. Often there are changes made to the physical environment of the church and even sometimes in the language and jargon. But these are only superficial changes, which are the most that simply applying a layer of makeup can accomplish.

We can all see the extent of this stupidity by observing the wisdom found in the classic quote by W.L. Bateman: “If you keep on doing what you’ve always been doing, you’ve keep on getting what you’ve always been getting.”

However, as far as transformation is concerned, the Word of God is clear: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, perfect, and pleasing will.” (Romans 12:2 NIV)

The renewing of the mind is a process of creativity and rediscovery of the Word of God.

The result of transformation is: “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is”.

The text “then you will be able” simply implies that we need the ability to test the will of God.

The text shows that the will of God cannot be tested by all.

The Will of God can only be tested by one who has gone through a metamorphosis by experiencing the renewing of his mind; in a way that now he may intelligently understand things, or in other words, one who has the rational ability to comprehend the Will of God. It is only through metamorphosis that one will be enable to experience the Will of God otherwise it is only intellectual exercise.

The following are some phrases that destroy the creativity of the church or reveal an adversity to change in any situation:

1) “This isn’t the way we do things around here”.


This is an expression that shows an addiction to sameness, doing the same things as they have always been done. An example of the result of this type of thinking is that the same “type of liturgy and worship service” that is practiced today is the same that has been practiced in many congregations for centuries.

Have you ever stopped and wondered if our type of worship service is in fact what pleases God? All of the services in all of “the churches” are the same all over the place. This uniformity is the result of an importing a “packaged” gospel that is exported to other nations. Per example, what is practiced in Brazil in terms of our worship services is the result of accepting the importation of the religion of foreign missionaries without questioning.

It is simply the proliferation of established, repetitive, and unquestioned religion, since the times of Martin Luther and Calvin, directed by liturgy, by the protestant ethic, and by tradition and conformity to the same daily routine.

The “routine” is unchangeable, because it has substituted the life of the Church (Ecclesia – the gathering together of the saved) destroying its revolutionary power to provoke changes in culture and society.

This routine has isolated the church in a religious and cultural monastery (a sub-culture). The church is either isolated in such a way that it’s no longer relevant and also it is not able to exercise its role as “salt” in the influential areas of society: Politics, education, religion, business, media, the arts and entertainment, and the family.

The practice of the Gospel today isn’t the same as it was for the Church in the first century in terms of being “a witness” of Jesus and an agent of transformation in society. The “Gospel” has become a product of a priestly class that considers themselves “holy” and everything else as mundane and secular. But we know that the Kingdom is in us and wherever we go the Kingdom is manifest through our words and deeds.

Even Mary having chosen a higher role did not become holier than Martha who went about with her household chores. We don’t become “saints” for sitting at the feet of Jesus; we are “saints” whatever we do in Him wherever we are, because He made us “holy” with the Blood He shed on the cross.

But the “church service” has replaced the deeds of the disciples, because it has transformed the believer into a “church member” and not into a Kingdom disciple that bears witness to and brings the presence of the Kingdom into every spheres of society that he enters.

The “church service” has created a wall around the “ecclesia” isolating it from the city “polis”, in such a way that the church cannot revolutionize the city because it has become isolated inside its own religious walls.

The “form” of worship became the church and the “temple” became the church. The “church” is only church when we are gathered worshiping and there is no church elsewhere unless we are inside a “temple”.

These extra biblical concepts, which are by the way heretical, have become the “Truth”. And there are so many other practices and ways of doing things that also have replaced the “Truth” and that are nothing more than mere human tradition.

These traditions need to be questioned, rejected and replaced through a “metamorphosis” process so we can test the perfect will of God as clearly taught in the Bible.

Because of this devotion to the form of doing things and to tradition we need to realize that much of what we have been doing in the past has not been truly from God. We need to be transformed.

2) “We already tried it once, it doesn’t work.”


This is a commitment to failure. We think “It’s not even worth trying, it’s better just to stay as we are.”

The traditional hymn “Just as I am” did not teach us that we should continue being what we were.

The Gospel is innovative. “I make all things new” is the eternal process of God. The Spirit is always moving over the waters. We will never be able to experience everything that is God. The Holy Spirit will always have something new to teach us.

3) “Well, we need to follow the Bible, you know.”


Of course we need to follow the Bible, but whose interpretation and which interpretation of the Bible must we follow?

Have you ever stopped to think why more than 90% of churchgoers in their whole lives have never even led one person to Jesus? It’s because the results that we have been getting are directly related to the way in which we act. If we keep on doing what we have always been doing, we’ll keep on getting the same results.

It’s like the story of the train conductor that would constantly get down from his train on a regular basis to hit the wheels on the train with a rubber hammer, because from his first day of work he had been instructed to do just that.
Until one day, a boy at one of the stops asked the engineer the question he had never asked himself: “Why are you hitting the wheels of the train with that rubber hammer?”

The conductor stopped; thought and intriguingly replied “You know what, I really don’t know myself.”

Most of churchgoers have repeatedly done the same things for years as they were instructed the first days not even knowing what they are doing. There are no results when we follow and do things we don’t even understand.

4) “I’ll pray about it”.


Clearly everything we do should be accompanied by prayer and complete dependence on God. However a common excuse that is often used when resisting change is to say that one is going to pray about it, when in fact nobody is going to pray about anything at all.

5) “I’ll ask the Pastor.”


The leadership structure in the majority of churches is centered on the “pastor”.
No change occurs in the great majority of churches if the pastor doesn’t first experience the change himself.

The principle of authority ought to be preserved because it is biblical, but any authority that impedes the creative operations of the Spirit of God in a church is anti-biblical and abusive.

And for any authority to be genuine it must be biblical.

However, the protestant model of church authority and leadership is modeled on the Catholic model, where the priest exercises the “whole ministry” usurping the working of the Body of Christ. Therefore there is a crisis of authority when the Biblical teaching concerning the authority of every Christian is not observed.

Every saved person is a priest and king of the Almighty and is just as anointed as his leader. The teaching of the priesthood of every Christian should be taught in contrast to Catholic and Protestant practices. Biblically, no one is the exclusive representative of God on Earth; every believer is an ambassador of God and minister of Christ.

6) “I’m not sure if this is the original Greek version of the Bible".


One of the biggest excuses that are used to resist something that we don’t accept is to appeal to a source of information that we ourselves don’t know well and that the people around us don’t have access to.

7) “I’m sure this will offend some of the church members”.


Any kind of change is going to offend people, especially those persons that are compromised and dependent on the current structure.

The idea of a “pastor” is basically related to what José Rego do Nascimento, the father of the Brazilian Spiritual Renewal movement during the 1960’s called “the professionalization of the faith.”

We must be willing to let go of anybody and many things that otherwise are going to really harm us if we truly desire to test and prove the perfect, good and pleasing will of God.

8) “We have to follow the rules”.


Every system when it is established self-generates rules to defend and preserve its own existence.

The rules are put in place to impede any initiative for change. They have the purpose of “loving” the organization and structure which then becomes more important than the people.

This is how the love of denominations comes about. This is how absolute loyalty to confessions of faith, to statutes and constitutions comes about without even taking into account the common good of neither the people nor the Word of God.

Any structure that becomes more important than people is “Antichrist”. I don’t refer to the eschatological person, but to the concept of being against Christ. Only the authority of the Word of God is absolute.

9) “That’s your opinion.”


Creativity is killed when the individual can’t express himself.

One person is so important to Jesus that He hears his prayers individually.

“No one comes to the Father except through me” echoes like the opening of all the gates of Heaven for all who call upon God in the Name of Jesus.

The Father draws near to Him who draws near to the Father in the Name of Jesus.

They who are heard in Heaven have the right to be heard on earth by whomever they may wish.

God may reveal Himself through any of His children and not exclusively through pastors, apostles and evangelists.

The only and unique exclusivity in the universe is reserved for Jesus Christ, and not for any human individual.

10) “This will probably cost a lot.”


This is the phrase that has caused the burial of more dreams, ideas and projects throughout all the ages.

The providence of God is available on earth in the same environment where His ideas, projects and dreams were generated.

God always begins with people. When He created the universe and planted the Garden of Eden, He already had in mind the man and the woman, just as if He had already created them.

The providence of God is given out upon the taking of each obedient step.
God never gives out all the resources at one time; He has it stored and provides for us as we walk along our way.

Every human being is born a millionaire. The cost of maintaining a human life from birth up until death is extremely high. Some lives will cost up to $1,000,000.00, others $2,000,000.00 and yet even some others up to $5,000,000.00.

For each of us there is a different cost associated to provide food, water, shelter, etc... But the cost is always high.

There are very few people out there that had all their money and resources available to them at birth. However we are guaranteed that will have all these things provided for us along our lives, covering all that we will consume and need for our lives up until we reach 70 years old.

It is for this that Jesus said: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

These things that Jesus was referring had already been given to everyone even without seeking the Kingdom of God first. God provides for all men just as equally as He clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the birds in the air.

It is unjust acts that cause all types of human suffering. However in concern to eating, drinking and clothing, God will provide the necessities even unto “the gentiles.”

But this is not why we search the Kingdom of God. The Scripture doesn’t tell us to seek the Kingdom of God to have all these things added unto us. All of us, the saved and the unsaved will have these things.

What Jesus wanted to show was that we must seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness because what we in fact truly lack is the Kingdom itself!

All of us are called to full-time ministry.


All of us are called to full-time ministry. This is the most basic concept that must be understood in order for transformation. Even after many years this concept still hasn’t been perceived in our studies of Scripture.

A majority of the time, if not all the time when the New Testament uses the term “minister” it is referring to all saved people, in the same way that the term “disciple” is used.

This religious division between “clergy and lay” doesn’t exist biblically, it is heretical.

All saved persons are priests and ministers of God.


The carpenter, the teacher, the student, the housewife, the doctor, and the engineer alike… All are priests and ministers of God, if born again. They are just as anointed as the “pastor.”

The transformation effect of the Gospel occurs in the workplace and not in the “church”.


The second concept that must be understood and practiced by each of us as ministers of Christ, or have you will, each saved person, is that transformation doesn’t occur in “church”, but in the workplace.

The Church is the gathering together of the saved, of the transformed. In fact, it is a redundancy to speak of the church and of the gathering of the saved, because it is the same thing. Only the saved gather together as the Church. They don’t gather in the Church, they are the Church as they are together.

It is in daily life that every Christian will proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom, in his life testimony and his words. The Christian is going to pray for the sick, expel demons, exercise his gifts and develop his talents and gifts for the Glory of God.

Every Christian is an ambassador of God, of the Kingdom of God, in every sphere of society where he works and lives, whether it is in politics, education, religion, business, media, and the arts or in the family.

More than 95% or what we call Jesus’ ministry was developed in the streets, houses, town centers, and in the work place.

More than 95% of what we recognize as the apostles ministry went on in the work place.

Even today all of Jesus’ disciples live 95% of their lives in the work place and so it is in the workplace there are the Kingdom’s transformation agents. The other 5% of the time is reserved for when they meet together as the church.

The generation and transfer of wealth through work is the way in which God expands His Kingdom.


The third concept that needs to be understood is that God’s plan for each of His children is that they invest in His Kingdom through the generation and transfer of wealth produced by their business and activities in the workplace.

"The wealth of the ungodly will be given to the just" (Proverbs 13:22). But it won’t fall from Heaven, nor will it be received by magically reciting “evangelical mantras” nor declarations, proclamations, decrees but by the force of the work of all who are saved, through intelligence and through wisdom. Work is adoration as much as the singing of hymns in the Assembly of God’s holy people.

From the construction of the tabernacle going on to the construction of the Temple of Solomon and to the reconstruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah and up unto the New Testament, God’s model for financing His work has been through the work place.

And it is Jesus’ disciples that understand this Truth that will disciple the most people into the Kingdom, since God uses them much more than He uses those that are considered “priests”.

In this way and throughout the whole world a “new church model” is coming about in the workplace, in schools and universities, in the cities and rural areas alike and in all spheres of society.

That is how a transformation is taking place in the structures of society and in nations throughout the earth until God “sends the Christ, who has been appointed for you – even Jesus - He must remain in Heaven until the times come for God to restore everything as He promised long ago through His holy prophets”. (Acts 3:20-22)

Notes:
This article was partly inspired by a speech given by Ed Silvoso.- www.harvestevan.org


Translated from the original in Brazilian to English by Mark Sittner –
Email: marksittner@gmail.com