Editor’s note: This is a reprinted column from Jack Purcell’s “On the Journey” archives. It originally appeared in The Star in 2013.
Asking if we’re conformed or transformed is really a question and one we should ask ourselves frequently. Am I being conformed to the world or transformed by the power of God?
The very familiar passage from Romans 12:2 sets the bar for us. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
You may be very familiar with this verse but have you applied it to your own life? You are living in “this world” and it is affecting your life no matter how imperceptible that might seem.
We cannot live in the environment we call America without carrying the impact of the culture. Paul is saying to us not to be conformed to it.
The word conform means to comply with, abide by, follow, observe.
As our nation moves farther away from biblical imperatives and basic morality and moves toward a self-serving lifestyle, the contrasts between being conformed and transformed become more visible.
Part of the problem for people of faith is the frog in the kettle idea. The frog starts out in nice, cool water, and gradually the water heats up slowly so that he doesn’t notice it. Eventually he is cooked.
Changes take place without us noticing that we have allowed our values to be slowly downgraded. A prime example would be what has happened to television since it first showed up in our living rooms. What is acceptable today would have created an outrage in 1955.
The alternative to being conformed is to be transformed, which implies a dramatic change. In other words, one cannot be transformed and look the same as before the transformation began.
I would caution here that transformation is not an event, it is a process. Some speak of transformation as though it is something that happens today and lasts forever. More realistically, it has a beginning and no end.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ you are being transformed, be it ever so slowly, depending how closely your thoughts line up with what God says about you and the world you live in.
Paul tells us how transformation takes place, “... by the renewing of your mind.”
You obviously cannot renew your mind in a day or a week, but over time. The truth is our minds need to be renewed from all the other input that disagrees with our new nature.
Eugene Peterson translates it so well in the Message. “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.”
Like so many things in life it is a matter of focus. It is so easy to let our thoughts be centered on ourselves and what we want rather than checking with God to see how he feels about our circumstances.
Scripture teaches us that what God allows he provides for. Circumstances are but the soil from which transformation can grow.
Comment
Comments