Recently I read an internet blog post by J. D. Edwards entitled “Caterpillar Christians.”
The title intrigued me, - I enjoy the butterflies and other pollinators in my yard but didn’t see how caterpillars could be a connection to faith, so I continued reading.
Edwards wrote about metamorphosis which most of us learned about in school. It is the process of the caterpillar changing into a chrysalis and finally into a butterfly.
Metamorphosis comes from the Greek word metamorphoo, meaning changed or transformed. In this process the caterpillar is driven by instinct, limited in vision, and bound to the leaf beneath it. In time it becomes a chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar changes again, it doesn’t simply grow wings; it’s “transformed.” The monarch butterfly chemically reconstructs itself from a caterpillar with 6 simple eyes which can only see in black and white, having a chewing mouthpiece, 16 legs, and the ability to crawl. It becomes a butterfly with 2 eyes that can see in color (each with 6,000 lenses), a sucking mouthpiece, 6 legs, 4 wings and the ability to fly! ( From Caterpillars to Butterflies to New Life in Christ).
In this process the caterpillar offers itself up, shedding its old skin, surrendering its form, entering the stillness of transformation and becomes a “living sacrifice,” not in physical death, but in surrender to its nature.
When the monarch butterfly emerges, it is a new creation. It doesn’t just appear or move differently; it sees differently. Its compound eyes perceive colors and patterns invisible to worldly humans. What was once a world of green leaves for the caterpillar becomes a kaleidoscope of divine design for the butterfly. This perfectly timed, chemically miraculous metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a butterfly stands as witness to our God’s amazing creativity and the marvels of our world.
Metamorphosis, transformation, Edwards says is what is being highlighted in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2.
The Apostle Paul urges us to “offer our bodies,” our soul or innermost being, “as living sacrifices,” seeking to live lives which are “holy and pleasing to God.” Edwards wrote how Christians, like a caterpillar go through a process of transformation as we offer our lives to Christ. When we finally mature, emerging from our worldly chrysalis, we see the world not as it was, but as God designed it to be. We discern God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will for our lives; not because we’ve learned more, but because we’ve become more.
Are you stuck in the caterpillar phase, still crawling, driven by instinct, limited in vision, and clinging to the familiar? Butterfly Christians are transformed and guided to spiritual maturity by completely and unconditionally surrendering to God. How do you want to live, like a caterpillar or a butterfly? We invite the change in our lives through a relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit’s power within us, by which we are reshaped, renewed, and transformed into a new creation, holy and desiring to live in ways pleasing to God.
The Apostle Paul writes that we should not be conformed to the world, but “transformed by the renewing of our minds,” so that like the butterfly we see God’s creation through transformed eyes and a new will that our lives be pleasing to God. The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!” When we’re in Christ, we’re not simply improved; we’re “a new creation,” through Christ, our old lives have passed away, all things have become new.
Thanks be to God for the gift of transformation that each of us can experience through our relationship with Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Word in Faith is a collaboration of Wayne Association of Congregations and Ministers (WACAM), an organization partially funded by the Wayne Community Chest.
