For the next 6 weeks we'll be studying The Life You've Always Wanted based on John Ortberg's best-seller which carries the subtitle "spiritual disciplines for ordinary people."

When most people think of a "discipline" (especially spiritual disciplines), there seem to be more negative images than positive. For starters, a discipline just plain sounds hard. For many, a "discipline" brings up images of being too formal, stiff, and legalistic – definitely NOT any fun. "Disciplines" often become more of a show or a method of religious role-playing that's really just fake. Difficult… boring… fake… is it any wonder why people aren't breaking down churches' doors to try and find out more about Christianity? Is that the life Jesus described in John 10:10 when He said "I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full"?

Actually, The Life You've Always Wanted is more accurately about transformation – about a God who isn't just concerned with our "spiritual lives" but who wants to impact every aspect of living (and not in a way that's dull or boring or fake). This study is for those of us who have ever been frustrated with what we know of spiritual life, ever wondered if real change is possible, ever felt confused or stuck. The Christian life as Jesus taught it was about much more than the minimal entrance requirements for getting into Heaven when you die – but just as importantly to have a full life here and now.

Session One: "It's Morphin' Time:
In Romans 12:2, Paul writes, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The actual Greek term he uses in this passage is morphoo (from which we get the word "morph") meaning "the inward and real formation of the essential nature of a person."

Spiritual transformation begins with salvation, but it doesn't end there. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says "Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has begun" – the key phrase being "has begun." If our transformation ends with salvation and the only benefit we find in Christianity is that we avoid Hell when we die – while that's a huge benefit, we're still missing a huge piece. What about the full life that Jesus promised? And if that's what He promised, then why are we seeing and experiencing so little of this?

Training vs. Trying
First, we need to recognize that spiritual transformation is not something that we can accomplish in ourselves by trying really hard – it's more a matter of training wisely.

Our physical bodies are constantly being formed and shaped – for better or worse – by the exercises we do (or don't do) and what we put into them. In a similar way, our spirit is always being formed also – which brings us back to spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are not things we do to earn favor with God, not things we do to show how spiritual we are, and not things we do for their own sake… they are a means to an end, a matter of training vs. trying. Spiritual disciplines are any activity that opens us up to God's transforming power and helps us live life as Jesus taught and modeled it.

The concept of training involves arranging your life around those activities that will enable you to do what you cannot now by direct effort (trying). For example, not many of us could just go out and run a marathon today and succeed at it by trying really hard – but if we trained for it, over time our bodies would build up strength and endurance and we could do it. In the same way, experiencing a true change in our very nature from the inside out is not something that we can do on our own by trying really hard – actually it's not something we can do on our own at all. It takes God's power and our participation. Phillipians 1:6 promises "…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion in the day of Christ Jesus."  God's willingness isn't a question. So what about our part? While we can't transform ourselves, there are things we can do to open ourselves up to God's power to transform our spirit/inner life – and if you'll remember, that is the definition of "spiritual disciplines."

Real Transformation vs. Pseudo-Transformation
The second reason that we may not be experiencing what Jesus promised is not that He is unable to deliver, but that we are unwilling to participate and experience real morphing. What often happens when we are unwilling to experience authentic internal spiritual transformation is that we settle for a fake, external transformation. This pseudo-transformation is not concerned with being changed from the inside out – but looks more at the outward appearance. It's a cosmetic change – a mask we put on.

When our lives are not marked by genuine God-directed spiritual change, we tend to look for substitute ways to distinguish ourselves from others. We adopt "boundary markers" – highly visible, relatively superficial practices intended to separate the "insiders" from the "outsiders." These boundary markers may include conformity to specified forms of dress and speech, adherence to certain rules of behavior, and participation (or avoidance) of certain activities

The most famous pseudo-morphers in Jesus's day were the Pharisees. In Matthew 23 Jesus has an extended dialogue with his followers where he exposes their fake "transformation":

…they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for men to see… they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seat in the synagogues… and to have men call them 'Rabbi'… Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to… You travel over land and sea to win a single convert and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are…You give a tenth of your spices… But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness… You blind guides! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self indulgence… You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones…

As you can see, the religious leaders of Jesus' day focused a great deal of their attention on "boundary markers." Many of their conflicts with Jesus occurred because Jesus took a radically different approach to assessing spirituality. Instead of focusing on visible indicators of spiritual transformation, Jesus focused on what was happening in the heart. Jesus brought a message that spoke of not simply becoming conformed to a religious subculture but transformed into a new creation. His concern was whether or not people were growing in their love of God and people. His concern was whether they were truly "morphing".