All my heroes could transform
Growing up in the 80s and 90s provided me with many advantages – and one of the greatest advantages is that we had some of the best cartoons ever made. With just a handful of TV channels to choose from, weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings were prime-time cartoon viewing as the networks put out their best efforts to captivate an audience.
Here is a short list of my favorites…see how many you recognize:
TigerSharks – A team of humans and aliens had access to the Fish Tank, a device that allowed them to transform from their humanoid forms into super-powered marine animals. They used their abilities to defend the inhabitants of the planet Water-O from various evil enemies.
ThunderCats – The ThunderCats were cat-like humanoids who escaped their war-ravaged world to start a new life on a new planet. They fought several groups of power-hungry, evil bad guys by calling on the power of the Eye of Thundera. The Eye would grant the ThunderCats enhanced strength, speed, skill, or anything else they needed to defeat the evil Mumm-Ra and his minions.
He-man and the Masters of the Universe – Whenever the unassuming Prince Adam would hold the Sword of Power and say, “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!” – he was transformed into He-Man. Along with his friends, He-Man defended his planet from the schemes of the evil Skeletor.
Transformers – The Transformers were split into two factions: the noble Autobots and the evil Decepticons. They crash-landed on earth and continued their eons-long conflict, with the Autobots defending humans and the Decepticons looking to either enslave or wipeout the humans. Both groups had a robot form and could transform into a vehicle or other objects.
You might have noticed a running theme in all my favorite cartoons…and while I didn’t make the connection when I was a kid, it is rather obvious now: Every main character was able to transform from their “normal” state into a super-charged version of themselves with enhanced abilities. Of course, these enhanced abilities were crucial to defeating evil and winning the day.
I’m sure you can see the same theme in some of your favorite shows, movies, books, and comics. Us gravitating toward stories of transformation-leading-to-success speaks to our own desire to change and overcome. But sadly, most of our stories about transformation are external changes – the TigerSharks became aquatic animals, the Transformers changed their outer form, and both the ThunderCats and He-man gained physical abilities. By and large, the transformation stories we seek to tell about ourselves are also mainly external – we got a new job, we went to the gym, we bought a new car – and while those things are good…there remains a part of us that is unchanged. It’s the part inside, at our core, we most want to transform…and that isn’t touched by any external changes.
This is our dilemma. How do we find real, lasting, life-altering change?
Jesus offers us Himself:
John 10:10
I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
The Greek word for life – zoe – describes a life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, and blessed, in both this world and the next for those who put their trust in Christ. Once we believe in Jesus for His gift of this zoe life, we are part of His family and we can begin to experience this life-change here and now, as well as in eternity.
While Jesus’ gift is free to any one (John 3:16, 5:24) and cannot be lost, we can participate in our own transformation and experience into abundant life. But this transformation doesn’t start with the outside. Instead, the Apostle Paul said it begins with how we think:
Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Being able to know God’s will sounds like a super-power for living a life that conquers evil. To get there, we need transformation of our minds. What are we thinking about? What are we spending our free time exposing our minds to? Are we being conformed to this age or are we achieving the transformation we deeply desire?
These are hard questions, but ones worth wrestling over. Don’t skip this. Stop right now and ask God to renew your mind.
Keep Pressing,
Ken