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Romans 12
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Transformed
As I sit to write this little piece, I hope that I don’t ramble on. So
much is inside wanting to get out and be said that I hope that I can
stay on topic. Truly one could speak for hours on Romans 12: 1&2,
especially when we consider the entire context. I’ll try to limit this
to one main thought if I can. The emphasis of this text is simple. We
are not to allow ourselves to be shaped by the world around us, but to
be changed by God. Be not conformed, but be transformed.
For this to happen, we need to understand what is really going on. As
believers, we wander through this world, often unaware of the conflict
that is taking place. The world is trying to shape us at the same time
that God is trying to change us. In this struggle, we must take sides.
Interestingly enough, in this case taking sides means that we must
surrender. We usually think of taking sides as meaning we must fight.
(There’s that world trying to shape us again) In this case, however, we
must either surrender to the world that is trying to shape us, or God
who is trying to change us.
The reason that Christian growth is often such a slow process is that we
don’t take sides. We stay neutral in the struggle. The world shapes us
a little. God changes us a little. We end up being some hybrid beast.
We’re despised by the world for our love of God. We’re not pleasing to
the Lord because of our love of the world. I’m not saying we make a
conscious decision to be neutral. Our neutrality is just a natural
result of being unaware of the war that’s going on. We think that all
change (good or bad) in our self is brought about by us. We keep trying
to make the change, and keep falling short, and wonder why. We fail
because we’re trying to do it ourselves.
Jesus tells the rich man, give up your wealth. It was worldly, and it
was shaping his life. The rich man goes away sad, for he had great
wealth. He sees now that he’s called to change. He sees just as
clearly, that he’s unable to make the change that he’s called to make.
So he goes away sad. A little later, seeing the difficulty in resisting
the influence of the world, the disciples ask; “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus answered, “with men this is impossible, but with God all things
are possible.”
In the movie Walk on the Wild Side, Dove Linchorn has gone on the road
to find his lost love, Halley. He catches up to Halley in New Orleans.
He tries to renew their romance, unaware that she is working in a
bordello. The madam confronts Halley. “You’re spending a lot of time
with that young man.” “I love him,” says Halley. “What if he finds out
what you really are?” “He’ll forgive me.” “You’ll still be what you
are.” Halley insists, “I’ll change!” The madam replies, “You’ve said
that before. What makes you think that this time it will be
different?”
I can’t tell you how often I’ve felt like Halley. I cry out, “I’ll
change!” I know that I must. I know that my Lord, my love, will find a
way to forgive me for what I’ve been. I know just as well that I must
change. I must stop being what I’ve been. So I cry out, “I’ll
change!” Then there’s the Adversary. He’s right there to tell me,
“You’ve said that before. What makes you think that this time it will
be different?” Just as I’m about to lose hope, just as I start to
listen, just as I begin to accept that I’ll never change, along comes my
hero, Jesus. He whispers out of the pages of His Holy Scriptures. “Oh
Jack! With man this is impossible but with God all things are
possible.” “I know you can’t change, but surrender to me, and I’ll
change you.” Matthew 19: 16-26, Mark 10: 17-31, Luke 18: 18-30
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