Conformity

“The Apostle Paul writing to the church at the seat of the Roman government, one of the greatest empires the world had ever known, in Romans chapter 12, verse two, he says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what the will of God is, what is good and acceptable and perfect. We see the word conformed, conformed, and we see the word transform. To conform is to fit in.”

“I want you to see in Romans 12 when he says, do not be conformed to the world. And there's this word, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. So he draws this line in the text, and this is not an accident. He says, do not be conformed, but be transformed. And so what you know from that is that there's two ways to go about this.”

“And what you set your mind on is what you become. You begin to conform to that which you dwell upon. What you dwell upon, it infiltrates who you are. And God doesn't desire for us to conform. He desires for us to be transformed. Paul talks about this in Romans 12 too. He says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

“So let's break that down. Do not conform. What does conform mean? Conform means to shape yourself. Okay, so do not shape yourself to the pattern of this world. What's a pattern? You guys know what a pattern is, right? A pattern is something that exists before you get there. Now, how many of you would say, I walked into school with my new outfit on, and I knew automatically that I was popular?”

“You've got to have a new relationship with God. Control is possible. The Holy Spirit is now with you. But now, in order to break this down and break through, we've got to have the truth of God's word to empower us and enable us to now live. Therefore, when that happens, when we're not being conformed by the world, but we're being conformed by the word, conformity is transformational.”

“But the fact is that most of us live the majority of our lives not in individuality, but in behavioral conformity. Because life demands conformity, whether you want to be or not. If you're going to be a part of a club, if you're going to be a part of a society, if you're going to be a part of a team, if you're going to be a part of any social order, you are going to have to conform to the vision, the values, and the virtues of that organization.”

“It calls for Israel to conform life around the divine presence. To conform life around the divine presence. Every single part of their lives. Setting up camp, operating, living within the camp.”

“Romans 12 said, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Don't be conformed to the world, be transformed by the renewal of your mind. How are you transformed by the renewal of your mind? By reminding yourselves of the gospel.”