Marks of a World Changer: #2 Spiritual Formation

The second mark of a world changer is that world changers are people who find inner strength through practicing the principles of spiritual formation. Notice Acts 4:13, which states, “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus” (NLT).

The verse points out three things about Peter and John. First, they were ordinary guys. Fishermen by vocation, in fact. There was nothing extraordinary about them, whether it be physical features, intelligence, eloquence, or charisma. Average Joes, so to speak.
The second thing it points out is that they had bypassed conventional wisdom, which said that you had to have completed Rabbinical school in order to articulate religious concepts. No sheepskin on the wall for Peter and John.

The third thing is that the only distinguishing feature about them is that they had spent time with Jesus. For three years, Peter and John had sat at the feet of the master teacher. They had been with Jesus on good days and bad. They had witnessed miraculous acts performed by Jesus that words could scarcely portray. They had listened intently as he taught with imagery and metaphor. Time with Jesus was the distinguishing mark.

Have you been spending time with Jesus? Spiritual formation is the process that transforms our selfish souls into the Savior’s likeness. Some will speak of spiritual formation as the practice of spiritual disciplines, such as Bible reading, prayer, fasting and the like.

The point is this: many Christ followers expect a 60 minute weekly worship experience to meet their basic spiritual needs. That’s like saying that brushing your teeth or showering once a week is good enough. Or maybe more appropriately, eating food once a week will physically sustain your body’s needs.

World changers are people who make a difference in their environments. They do so because they are spiritually nourished and motivated from a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.