I am currently reading Shaped By the Word by Dr. Robert Mulholland. As he writes about spiritual formation, he has this to say about being conformed to the image of Christ:
This aspect of spiritual formation also moves against the grain of our acculturation. Ours is an objectivizing, informational, functional culture. We are largely governed by a materialistic/humanistic worldview that perceives everything “out there” as something to be grasped, controlled, and manipulated for our own purposes or, even worse, for the purposes of God! This perspective is so deeply ingrained, as we shall see, that we determine our own self-image, our meaning, our value, our purpose by the effectiveness of our grasp, control, and manipulation of the world, of other persons, even of God. We seek to exercise our control by gaining information in order to manipulate what is “out there” for our purposes.
The very thought of “being conformed”-which clearly implies that we are to be grasped, controlled, and shaped by some one other than ourselves-confronts our deeply ingrained sense of being. “Graspers” powerfully resist being grasped by God. Controllers are inherently incapable of yielding control to God. Manipulators strongly reject being shaped by God. Information gatherers are structurally closed to being addressed by God. Information takers have extreme difficulty being receivers. Frenetically functional activists find it extremely difficult to be still, and know God as God (Ps. 46:10). Already we see something of the deeper dynamics of what Jesus meant when he said, “Whoever would save their grasping, controlling, manipulating false self will lose it; and whoever loses that false self for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35).
As a “Grasper”, controller, manipulator, information gather/taker, frenetic functional activist, I am reminded of Matt 19:23-26
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Who then can be conformed?
With “Graspers”, controllers, manipulators, information gather/takers, frenetic functional activists it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.