Review: Transformed–A New Way of Being Christian

Transformed: A New Way of Being Christian by Caesar Kalinowski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Living Missionally (Without Becoming Obnoxious) in the Modern World.

When I requested this book, I expected to receive a fairly standard, traditional discipleship fare. By that I mean more exhortations to obedience to God's ways and developing the fruit (or far too often, mistakenly, fruits - plural) of the Spirit so that I, as a Christian individual, could have impact in the world while not falling to its traps. I was expecting more exhortations to introspection and corresponding guilt that accompanies it. (Oh, none of the discipleship works ever say that's their intention, but really, that's what is usually the result from my experience.) Let's just say I've had too many negative experiences with so-called discipleship books and courses and seminars.

I was very pleasantly surprised to discover Transformed: A New Way of Being Christian by Caesar Kalinowski is quite unlike that. Caesar desire to motivate Christians to get away from the hyper-individualistic mindsets and into missional communities. He wants to get Christians to stop seeing the world as a place that is utterly fallen and evil and the church as a fortress of protection from the world. He wants Christians to exit the fortress (my metaphor) and make church communities happen among the world. He wants Christians to live their lives in the world.

The first part of the book deals with who we are when we enter the family of God and call ourselves Christians. Too often Christianity is presented in a fortress mindset where the church is an escape from the world and a place to hang on until we "arrive in heaven." Whatever evangelism happens is a raid into the world to bring back "captives" for God.

One of the difficult questions that I've been hearing in the church group I'm with is how does one live a Christian life that is modeled after Jesus and the apostles? Is that kind of lifestyle only applicable to people of that time? How can we realistically live in a way where we share things, work for the common good, and reject the idolatry of individualism that is so prevalent, even in the church? Transformed goes a long way to providing a set of positive responses to these questions.

For Caesar, the answer is not found in church, but in Jesus. Christians become a part of "a family of missionary servants, sent as disciples who make disciples." He writes that this is our new identity. Along with a number of other writers that I've read, Caesar makes the point that Christians are no longer "sinners," and not even "saved sinners" in identity. Christians are saints who are part of God's family. Christians still sin, but identity is no longer "sinner." This makes all the difference in how Christians see themselves and their brothers and sisters.

The Christian's identity is not found in what "we do." Her identity is based on what Jesus Christ has already done. His identity is based on his relationship to others as a member of a family, as a missionary, as servants, and as disciples. This is part two of the book.

Too often Christianity is defined through beliefs and doctrines, by what he does in church, and by whether or not she has personally accepted Jesus into her life. Caesar describes how a Christian cannot be one unless he is in relationship to other human beings as well. Far too often this relationship is defined as something that is primarily found through church - attendance at services and participation in programs. Caesar challenges his readers to think of church as happening primarily outside of the walls of a fixed building and outside fixed schedules of worship.

Caesar suggests that Christians have misunderstood what "discipleship" means. He writes that it is usually understood as taking a series of courses, going through a book, listening to lectures (sermons), etc. on topics that are supposed to be essential and helpful to grow an individual's spirituality toward maturity. Traditional discipleship postulates that once a person has the right information, he will live a better life.

Caesar takes a look at John 8:31-32 and suggests that it is in fact the other way around. People learn a better way to live by modeling what they see as a better life. And through modeling, they begin to understand, accept, and believe the principles (truth and doctrines) underlying the better way.

It is upon this premise that the rest of the book is written. Caesar describes how he has practiced this in his Christian community (church) called Soma. He uses stories and examples from his life to illustrate and explain what he terms the "rhythms" of how Christians can live missionally in today's world. These rhythms are: telling and listening to stories; listening to God through scripture and prayer; eating together; offering blessings through words, actions, and gifts; throwing parties and celebrating with one another; and taking time to rest and re-create.

Towards the end of each chapter Caesar has a section where he acknowledges that the principles in that chapter are not always easy to live out, that there may be questions and areas that are not black or white, and provides ways of thinking through the difficulties. The end of each chapter includes questions for discussion. In the spirit of the book, I suspect it would be best to gather a group together to discuss them together.

One of the things I liked best in Transformed is toward the end of the chapter "Celebrate" where Caesar writes that if we have been redeemed, if our lives have been redeemed, instead of running away from culture and its abuses, we ought to go in there and put in the effort to redeem them. Just as Paul engaged with the culture around him wherever he went, we ought to be doing the same. When we retreat from culture and its sins (retreating into the church fortress) we are inadvertently sending the message that there are things in the world that even God cannot redeem because it has been so perverted beyond redemption - we send the message that the gospel is not big enough. And if the gospel isn't big enough, is it really big enough for the issues that I'm facing personally?

The kind of community Caesar describes is one that is very fluid and open. This is the one area where I personally had difficulties, not because I disagreed with the ideas and principles, but because I am an extreme introvert who needs a lot of alone time. I could see how Caesar's model could work for outgoing, extroverted people. I looked but didn't find discussion on good ways on how to adapt and fit the model to introverted personalities. I'm pretty sure he doesn't expect introverts to become extroverts, but I wish there was more discussion on this question.

Overall I found the contents of the Transformed to be excellent. It changes the way a Christian sees herself. It changes how a Christian approaches discipleship. It changes how he defines and practices church. In a very real way it transforms the ways of the "apostolic church" into something that can work out in 21st century Western societies. I did not find (from my perspective) anything that would be a major theological roadblock. I think it will appeal to a broad Christian audience, whatever their theological or denominational persuasion.

(This review is based on an ARC supplied by the publisher through NetGalley.)

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