Yes, they’re back! Transformers, those innovative little toy gadgets that were a 1980s pop phenomenon, have again leaped to the forefront of American popular culture. Just when you thought they'd been discarded on the junk heap of life, they’re back again for an encore performance and they’re bigger than ever.This week is the release date for the new Transformers movie—a high-tech, live action flick with lots of computer graphics. I still remember when the original Transformers movie came out. It was back in the mid-1980s. We were living in Danville at the time. And I remember Sandy and me taking our small Transformer-crazed son to a local theater to see it. As Sandy and I sat there holding our ears, a theater full of kids screamed and cheered non-stop for an hour and a half as the fast-paced animated action adventure unfolded before our eyes.
In case you’re not acquainted with Transformers, they’re toys that can transform from cars or trucks or planes or pieces of heavy equipment into a race of fearsome mechanical robot warriors.
When the new Transformer movie premieres this week, I guarantee that there will be as many if not more
twentysomethings in the audience as there are teens and children. Because this film is pure nostalgia for those young adults that grew up back in the 1980s, a real throwback to their childhood days.How big were Transformers to that generation? Let me put it this way. My son helps write bills that are passed by the U. S. Congress and made into the law of the land. But he still plays with Transformers. (Not really, but his wife just bought him an large, intricate one for his 26th birthday.) And since he and she are both off work on Independence Day, they’re going to the midnight show on the evening of July 3rd to see the film’s big premiere.
By the way, back in the 1980s, Jordan was one of the first kids in the United States to ever see or touch a Transformer. When I was a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Jordan was still a preschooler, I took him to the on-campus
seminary doctor one day. We were sitting in the waiting room and wound up seated next to Mrs. Lolley, the then-seminary president’s wife. She and Dr. Lolley had just returned to the States from a trip to Japan. She reached in her purse and said, “Look, Jordan, at what I have.” It was a Transformer. It was the hottest new toy in Japan, but it hadn’t even been heard of in the USA at that time. Once she demonstrated it for him, Jordan was hooked. And when Transformer mania hit the States a few months later, he was a bona fide Transformer fanatic.Incidentally, the Transformer television commercials back in those days had a memorable little jingle that went like this: “Transformers…more than meets the eye!” Jordan didn’t quite get all the words right, however, so he sang it this way: “Transformers…more than eats the eye!" Although it sounded rather barbaric…and almost cannibalistic…Sandy and I always got a kick out of that.
OK, what do Transformers have to do with anything? Well, in the Bible it tells us “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2) In other words, God has called all of us to be Transformers!
Christianity is all about transformation. It’s not about conformity, which is basically an alignment of external behavior and outward appearance in order to fit in and be accepted by
those around us. It’s about being made new in Christ, from the inside out, a spiritual transformation that impacts the whole person. This is something we experience positionally when we initially come to Christ. (This is what the new birth is all about.) But it’s also something we experience practically as we continue to grow in Christ. (This is what our daily Christian walk is all about.) This truth is further reiterated in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “And we… are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Thus, transformation into Christlikeness is our purpose, our destiny, and our goal.Then, as we continually undergo this personal transformation through the Holy Spirit, we in turn are to be Transformers in the world around us. Remember that Jesus called us to be salt and light. Salt is a preservative…preserving things that are good. But also bringing new flavor to things that need change. Light, as well, has a transforming quality. It dispels the darkness and shows the way. It brings illumination and direction. It adds warmth and understanding.
So, with this in mind, let me encourage you to truly be a Transformer to the glory of God! Don’t follow the crowd, but always seek to follow the example of Christ. And then don’t keep Christ to yourself, but through your life always seek to point others to him. After all, that’s a whole lot more desirable (and palatable) than eating an eye!
By the way, with all this 1980s nostalgia now in vogue, let's just hope that the Smurfs don't make a comeback next. Because, honestly, I'd be really hard pressed to come up with a spiritual parallel for them.
Pastor Danny
