James Loader- The Transformative Moment...

Anxiety arises as the self becomes aware of the void.[1] If God created order, beauty, and life out of nothing, the void seeks to reverse the process.[2] It is where we are all headed, individuals and institutions alike, the void, death, nothingness. This anxiety, as stated before, offers two trajectories, paralyzing hopelessness and surrender, or reassertion of self and new life. James Loader suggests that this is what Jesus offers us in what he calls “the Christ event.” During his earthly ministry Jesus transformed the lives of the people he encountered. The rhythm of the Christ event follows that of entering the reality of the situation (incarnation), internalization (crucifixion), and new trajectories (resurrection).[3] If we choose to live into the Christ event in our anxiety, it allows for the creativity of the Holy Spirit to be unleashed in the resurrection of our identity and purpose.[4] The discovery of this power and creativity that comes from God, in the experience of resurrection, becomes a guiding, inspiring, and empowering memory that remains an immutable reality for the recipient.[5] The experiences that initiate the conviction to depart from anxiety and move towards hope must always be sourced as a gift from Christ. These transforming events will always point back to Jesus, as the recipient will be transformed into a source of love. As God empowers us to experience these moments, communities and organizations can also help instigate these. This is especially true when we look at institutions and communities in crisis that may be struggling with the various forms of anxiety that we have explored.

καιρός (kairos) is one of the Greek words that is translated in English as “time.” According to the Strong’s Concordance the word occurs, in one form or another, 86 times in the Greek New Testament.[6] This specific Greek word for time carries the connotation of being at “just the right moment.” Kairos is the word used for time in Galatians 4:4 when the writer says “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son.” It is in kairos time that God initiates transformative events. The pivot points in the lives of individuals and organizations in which they spring from anxiety to new life, come when we embrace the potential of God to act in these moments, by preparing the way for God’s work in our communities. We do this by intentionally seeking out the will of God and connecting it to our identity and ability. Locating our identity in God will propel the community forward, as the love of God is unleashed to cast out our fear.

[1] Loder, James E, The Transforming Moment: Understanding Convictional Experiences, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981,80.

[2] Ibid., 82.

[3] Ibid., 148.

[4] Ibid., 175.

[5] Ibid., 176.

[6] Strong, James, The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: With Main Concordance, Appendix to the Main Concordance, Hebrew and Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament, Greek Dictionary of the New Testament. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995, 903 (time).