Transformed By Jesus or Mountaintop Experiences?

Luke 9:28-36 “About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.) While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen.

Not growing up in a “church-going” family, I never went to camp at one of those grand facilities in the local mountains with hundreds of other kids to spend a weekend of spiritual Bible Study and activities with camp counselors and other Christians, listening to charismatic motivational speakers, and inspirational bands, centered on the presence of the Lord in our midst. Where kids begin to hear that God has something greater for their life for them and tells them to “follow Him”. They see that nothing else matters more. From what I’ve heard, it is quite a transcendent experience and many make a life-changing decision with a profession of “saving” faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior from this literal “mountaintop experience”. Pastor JJ has accompanied many young “Seekers” to Camp over the years and attests to the transforming encounter, having witnessed the amazing Spirit-led conversion first-hand.

Romans 12:2 “ And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

But meeting Jesus on the mountain top is not a stopping place, it is a starting point. Pastor warns that there is a danger that we can turn it into an experience that never ends by, figuratively, building shelters in their minds to live in emotionally and never come down from the mountain, which is not a true relationship lived daily in “every day” life. This is placing faith where it does not belong. The child of God is “in the world” (a self-centered materialistic world that “misses the mark” of God’s standards), but we are not “of this world”, not conformed to this God-rejecting world system that “takes its eyes off the target” and on another. Citizen of the kingdom of God, where is home? How is salvation running your daily life? “Listen to Him”. 

Revelation 21:6-7 “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.”

In Christ, Brian