Conform v Transform

Romans 12:1-2 -Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

There is a lot of pressure these days to confirm to the norms of society. The clothes we wear, the way we look and the things we do are very often a moulding as a result of the hot pressures of the environment. These are the external factors that force us to be what is acceptable to the mainstream society. The sad thing is we don't realise it our selves.

These days, with Trump winning the presidential elections, there's a lot of debate on social media as to why and how he won. Of course, I am not discarding the fact that God is in control of every situation. But one thing, I must admire about this man is his refusal to conform to mainline political correctness. Both the main political parties were against him, the bulk of the media were against him, the migrants, the latinos and almost everyone was against him. Inclusive relativism was the flavour of the democrats and even most republicans but this man stood against all these.  He chose to be true to who he believed and what he thought was important, never mind if it was not acceptable to the pressures the masses. The "other camp" had to conform to their sponsors, well wishers and success seemed only possible if this was done. Trump proved them wrong. 

There is a good lesson for all christians.

Paul reminds us that in life there will be tremendous pressures for us to conform to the things of this world. And he pleads with christians not to conform but rather be transformed. 

Incidentally the Greek word for transform means to change into another form. Its from this word we get the English word metamorphosis. The pupa chaining into a butterfly is a good example. A total change of form. That's the transformation Paul is talking about.

And that's is what Paul is urging us Christians to be. Sad to say, many christians are just conformists rather than the transformed. 

There needs to be an internal change that does not give in to the whims and fancies of this world but rather distinguishes oneself from all the pressures of worldly change but instead stands out as the salt and light for others to follow. 

Confirming is easy but transforming can be very hard, because it demands that one be a sacrifice. Think about it.