Who is Shaping Whom?

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

Paul is speaking of a transformation at the deepest level that is infinitely more significant than the conformity to the world’s pattern that is distinctive of so many lives.

One historian has said:
“What madness it is to join in this puppet show which is displayed on a tottering stage.”

Christians have been introduced into the life of the world to come. What a tragedy, then, if they conform to the perishing world they have left. The believer, whose life is that of the new world to come, does not think like an unbeliever. Paul does not envisage a mindless emotionalism, but a deeply intelligent approach to life, as characteristic of the Christian who has been renewed by the Holy Spirit.

First the Reason, Then the Doing

The “therefore” in Romans 12:1 refers back not simply to the previous argument about God’s mercy in bringing salvation to Jew and Gentile, but to everything that Paul had been teaching from the beginning of the epistle. It marks the transition from the theology of God’s redemptive act in Christ Jesus to the ethical expectations that flow logically from that theological base.

Paul moves from knowing, which is theological understanding, to doing, which is living it out practically.

The practical, however, must of necessity rest upon a solid theological foundation. Otherwise it is little more than advice about how to get along in a religious community. If God had not done what He did for us, there would be no compelling reason why we should now do what He says.

Many of the living religions have an ethical code that uplifts and inspires. However, only the Christian faith, rooted as it is in a supernatural person and act that took place in history (the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ), has the ultimate moral authority as well as the effective power to not only uplift and inspire, but also to transform human life according to the divine intention.

So Christian ethics are practical specifically because they do not stand alone, but emerge as unavoidable implications of an established theological base. Theology in isolation promotes a barren intellectualism. Ethics apart from a theological base is impotent to achieve its goals.

While sanctification is gradual in the sense that it continues throughout life, each advance depends upon
a decision of the will. That the sacrifice is “living” reflects the voluntary nature of the act.

Romans 12:2 is not a change effected from without, but a radical reorientation that begins deep within the human heart. It is in the mind that our new nature and our old humanness are intermixed. It is in the mind that we make choices as to whether we will express our new nature in holiness or allow our fleshly humanness to act in unholiness.

It is not uncommon for unbelievers to mask themselves as Christians. Unfortunately, it also is not uncommon for Christians to wear the world’s masks. They want to enjoy the world’s entertainment, the world’s fashions, the world’s vocabulary, the world’s music, and many of the world’s attitudes, even when those things clearly do not conform to the standards of God’s Word.

We are commanded by God to allow ourselves to be changed outwardly into conformity to our redeemed inner natures.

1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Who is Shaping Whom?

Are we shaping the culture or is culture shaping us? The question is important because the answer tells us either that the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation and we’re transforming the culture or it tells us that too many of us are merely playing religious games while Western culture crumbles into self-destruction and decay.

The First Question is Who is We?

Does the we refer to the same type of Christians that changed the USA in 1740 with the Great Awakening?

The question is asking to what extent we who believe in Jesus Christ are wrongly taking too many cues and direction from the subset of the culture that is non-Christian? Compare that against the extent to which we, by the power of the gospel, are changing the culture by first being changed ourselves, with gospel preaching that sees people converted and then by influencing those outside with our lives, impacting things so that the tolerance levels and the direction changes in one fashion or another in the broader culture.

What change has salvation made in our lives that is affecting people or culture in a way that honors God?

It is a lifelong process, but if we cannot list something or several things in response, then culture is influencing us far more than our own impact on others/culture.