The goal of transformation

Sometimes we sing a song that says,

Help me to love with open arms like you do,

a love that erases all the lines and sees the truth,

so that when they look in my eyes they would see you,

even in just a smile, they would feel the father’s love.

This is the goal of transformation, to become Christ-like, and to love as God loves.

It reminds me of a story I read in Sue Monk Kidd’s book, When the Heart Waits. She says:

There’s a story about a young man who sought out a wise old man and asked, “What great blunder have you made?” The old man replied, “They called me a Christian, but I did not become Christ.” The seeker was perplexed. “You did not become Christ? Is one supposed to become Christ?” The old man answered, “I kept putting distance between myself and him—by seeking, by praying, by reading. I kept deploring the distance, but I never realized that I was creating it.” “But,” the seeker insisted, “is one supposed to become Christ?” His answer: “No distance.”

When there’s no distance between us and Christ within us, we’re most human, most ourselves. When there’s no distance between us and Christ within us, we’re able to love as God loves. This is why the apostle Paul could say, “I have been crucified with Christ, I no longer live, Christ lives in me.” -Gal. 2:20

The Bible speaks of the great mystery of our faith as, “Christ in you, the Hope of glory.” -Col. 1:27.

No distance.