What is Transformation?

(Written by Lilian Schmid, from her speech at the NSW Parliament House, 16 Nov 2011)

The Greek word for biblical Transformation is metamor/phosai, from which we get the English word metamor/phesis, which is a complete change such as a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Biblical transformation then applies to an individual believer’s progress in sanctification. To transform our city we need to sanctify ourselves and be like Jesus.

What did Jesus do? He came to preach, to heal and to raise the dead, whereas Satan came to steal our identity, to kill our passion and to destroy our society, our lives and our families. Our role is then to pray, evangelise, teach, heal, and sanctify ourselves to be able to sanctify our city and resist Satan.

How can we do this? We can transform our city when we repent, and have reconciliation and forgiveness. So our message is the message of love, unity and relationship. The city of Sydney will be transformed because the church will always be a witness to the truth.

Jesus Christ proclaimed almost 2000 years ago "I will build My church."; He declared that His Church would never die out, promising that "...the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." [Matt 16:18] He assured His disciples that He would guide and preserve His Church until His return, promising them "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." [Matt 28:20]

It is time now to focus on what unites us and not what divides us. Transformation starts from within; it is a transformation of the heart. This transformation can only take place through our obedience to God, to live and to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ following the Great Commission, making disciples of all the nations. The power of the Gospel changes the lives of men and women by releasing them from the guilt, power and consequences of sin, enabling them to respond with love toward God and toward others (Rom. 5:5) and making them "new creatures in Christ" [2 Cor. 5:17]; 'New Wine and Fresh Skins'.

The Need for Transformation

(Written by Bjorn Schmid)

Australia is called a 'lucky country', and on the surface it would appear that we are indeed 'lucky', having what appears to be a more safe and free environment in which to work, live and raise our families than most other countries in the world.

Sydney, Australia's largest city is no exception, but underneath our glowing exterior, we have a population suffering pain and grief that is rarely addressed or even spoken of.

Even with a fairly good social welfare system, we still have over 800 people officially sleeping on the streets because they have no shelter to go to [The City of Sydney Street Count]. Others live in temporary or marginal housing (no count available), and many of these are also 'street based drinkers' or have alcohol and substance dependence.

Families and marriages are under constant attack. In 2008 the ratio of marriages to divorces was approx 3:1 (39,137 marriages to 13,914 divorces), which although a reduction from previous years is still a sad trend. Of the divorces, 47% involved an average of 1.8 children - that's 11,771 children who no longer have both parents in their family. [Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics - Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2008]

It's no wonder our young people are confused and despairing of the future when even the two people who gave birth to them can not sacrifice their differences and express unfailing love for the family they began together. The figures above of course do not include those children born into 'non-classic' families.

So our youth have an identity crisis, and this is expressed in many ways through stress-related diseases like anorexia nervosa and bulimia, rampant materialism, gender confusion, binge drinking and substance abuse, and youth suicide.

"Suicide among 15 to 24 year-old people is a serious problem in Australia where more than 400 young people kill each themselves every year. There are now more deaths from suicide among young men aged 19 to 24 than there are from road deaths. Adolescence can be a time of confusion and stress. Although most young people survive these years without major problems, others feel so helpless and without hope that they kill themselves."
[NSW Health 1997 Preventing Youth Suicide].

So in spite of our best intentions, we are raising a generation of 'hollow souls' - people crying for genuine emotional intelligence, but receiving only marketing hype and empty promises. Why? Because as a nation we've sold our backbone, our moral fibre, that which gave us strength and resilience, that which came from a greater power and intelligence than ourselves, for a cheap and limp substitute, in the name of 'freedom and prosperity'. But what kind of 'freedom and prosperity' have we achieved, and at what price?

Our modern lives are sliced up by the domains or spheres of influence in our society; they contend for our time and money, and subsequently exert control over us as individuals, families, and our whole society. Strange that these influences that should be the public services to serve our society have instead become our masters in such a relatively short time. Subtly we are increasingly spending less and less quality time with our families and friends in order to serve these influences.

How is this true? Work is now dominating our lives as we spend more and more time either preparing for work or doing it. Even our children are being indoctrinated from an early age to study hard so they can get a good (read 'well paid') job. 'Smart' parents push their kids to perform, perform, perform and send them off to tutoring schools like Kumon to ensure that they will not be left behind in the rat race.

It is interesting that prior to the Industrial Revolution in the 18^th century, most people lived in feudal societies or small communities and often struggled to find enough food to survive. Only the land owners and aristocrats had the leisure to pursue activities not centred on survival. The 20^th century though introduced a better way of living (in the west at least) and freed most people from the need to fight for survival - leisure became a way of life. Now in this 21^st century the wheel is turning back.

Now we expend the 'free time' we have left shuttling our children between sporting events, dodging with the Tax Man, reading endless columns about Government policies (and scandals), volunteering for Fun Runs and sausage sizzles to raise money for some worthwhile cause or disaster relief, stressing over the latest stock market movements, propping up our stressed bodies with feel-good medications and New Age treatments - the list goes on and on. Somewhere we may actually find time to spend an hour in Church and donate yet more money to be sure we've covered all bets.

So with all this pressure we've accepted to reduce our relationships with humans and God to 'bites' instead of 'meals'; we've become a snack culture taking what we feel like nibbling at any time with SMS, Facebook, Coffee breaks, emails and now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep prayers. This snack approach is even affecting traditionally 'permanent' relationships such as marriage and employment, with the 'what's-in-it-for-me-right-now' attitude causing havoc with the development of our children as we swap quality time with whatever money can buy from our dual incomes.
[If We're so Rich, Why aren't we Happy?]
[Era of Disposable Relationships]

It's not that all these things are bad in themselves, but they have displaced the real thing; what should be the driving purpose for it all, very much like how the Israelites repeatedly replaced the One True God with idols such as Baal and Mammon, and then suffered terrible problems in their society and economy as a result. We need as individuals, families and communities to repent of this replacement and return to our created calling: "...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." [2 Chronicles 7:14]

God wishes to reconcile all things to Himself, and thus he sent His Son to provide the means by which we are reconciled to Him:

Transformation Starts At Home

In 2009, the Lord laid the burden upon some peoples' hearts to start an initiative for Transforming Sydney. Not to build a new hierarchy or structure, but to encourage all Christians to participate in the new work of the Holy Spirit in Sydney, which is already upon us and growing day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, person by person.

Since then He has opened many doors for us to meet with leaders and organisations to talk about the transformation of Sydney:

• To bring the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven
  [Matthew 6:10 "...your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."]
• Proclaiming the good news and crying out to God to set the captives free from fear and pain
  [Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."]
• Rejoicing with heaven over souls won to Christ
  [Luke 15:7 "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."]

The message of Transforming Sydney is always one of reconciliation and service; we are not trying to take over anything that people are already doing, but to encourage them to work with other groups doing similar or related activities, and to help where we can.

We believe in one body of Christ made up of many parts - we all have something important to bring [cf. 1 Corinthians 12].

We are also linked with the Transform World movement (www.transform-world.net).

Please note that Transforming Sydney is not looking for donations - if this is a work of God then He will provide the needs according to His riches in glory [cf. Matthew 10 and Philippians 4].