Moving on in Transformation: A Life of Living Faith

This past Sunday morning we opened up James 2:14-26 and dealt with the issue of faith and works. We clearly are not saved by our works, but we are transformed unto good works when we surrender to Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10). We covered the research from the book Maximum Faith by George Barna, where he maps the ten stops along the path toward wholeness.

Here they are:

1. Ignorance of the concept or existence of sin. 1%
2. Aware of and indifferent to sin. 16%
3. Concerned about the implications of personal sin. 39%
4. Confess sins and ask Jesus Christ to be their Savior. 9%
5. Commitment to faith activities. 24%
6. Experience a prolonged period of spiritual discontent. 6%
7. Experiencing personal brokenness. 3%
8. Choosing to surrender and submit fully to God: radical dependence. 1%
9. Enjoying a profound intimacy with and love for God. 0.5%
10. Experiencing a profound compassion and love for humanity. 0.5%

Where would you place yourself?

Barna thinks most are in a “mindless mutiny” and in a “hopeless meandering.” And he thinks many stop on the path.

He presents five paths:

1. Moving sequentially: some go from #1 to #10. Others try other methods.
2. Settling for religiosity: some get to stop #6 and choose to settle for #5.
3. Exploiting cheap grace: they get to #6 and revert back to #2.
4. Becoming angry with God: they go through #6, but when they get to #7, they become angry with a God who would subject them to such a process of testing, and they often return, as well, to #2.
5. Traveling the biblical path: they leap from #3 to #7 and move onward.

What path looks most familiar to you?

You can find Barna’s blog entry on this here.