Romans 12:1-2
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.
“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Don’t be conformed, but be transformed. The word “conformed” means to have an outward appearance that doesn’t match what’s going on inside you. Conformity is to put on something on the outside that doesn’t reflect the inside. And Paul by the Spirit of God wrote that letter and said,
‘Don’t let this word put something ON you that doesn’t match what’s going on IN you.”
But transformation is just the opposite. Transformation means to let the outward appearance be reflective of the inward condition.
There IS supposed to be a difference.
Now, I know that in church and in ministry and in our outreach to the world around us it’s good to have a desire to be relevant; it’s good to have a desire to speak in terms that people can understand and you’re speaking their language and communicate with them. I know so often seen in the church it’s so entrenched in our own way of speaking, our own way of communicating and there’s a lot of things we say in the context of church and ministry and Bible study that if you tried to speak that way to somebody that never heard it, they’ll look at you kind of funny and say,
‘What in the world are you talking about? What is Holy Ghost?’
You know, that means something to you but to somebody else they may not have a clue what you’re talking about.
So, yes, it’s important to endeavor to communicate in a way they can understand, but as you’re doing that REMEMBER, remember what is truly relevant to a sick man…is the Word on healing. What is truly relevant to a dying person, somebody that is dying from the inside to the outside – what is truly relevant is that Jesus Christ died for you and has come to save you! That’s what is relevant! Don’t ever compromise that. Don’t ever compromise the message of the Word of God. Don’t ever compromise the life of Jesus in order to be relevant to somebody else. No, your HOPE that you have on the inside is what’s relevant to a hopeless person.
There IS supposed to be a difference.
And Jesus even said it. He said,
‘Look, if the world hates you just know they hated Me first.’
Now everything Jesus said, EVERY word that came from that Man’s mouth is Good news. Every single word and even this word right here: The world is going to hate you. I know you think that does not sound like Good News but it is! It’s great news! ‘Because if the world hates you, you need to know they hated Me first.’
In other words, if they hate you it’s because you LOOK like Him. Then He went on to say in that same verse,
‘but if the world loves you, it’s because they love their own.’
In other words...
If they hate you it’s because you look like Him.
But if they love you, it’s because you look like them.
There’s supposed to be a difference.
Jeremy Pearsons, KCM
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.
“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Don’t be conformed, but be transformed. The word “conformed” means to have an outward appearance that doesn’t match what’s going on inside you. Conformity is to put on something on the outside that doesn’t reflect the inside. And Paul by the Spirit of God wrote that letter and said,
‘Don’t let this word put something ON you that doesn’t match what’s going on IN you.”
But transformation is just the opposite. Transformation means to let the outward appearance be reflective of the inward condition.
There IS supposed to be a difference.
Now, I know that in church and in ministry and in our outreach to the world around us it’s good to have a desire to be relevant; it’s good to have a desire to speak in terms that people can understand and you’re speaking their language and communicate with them. I know so often seen in the church it’s so entrenched in our own way of speaking, our own way of communicating and there’s a lot of things we say in the context of church and ministry and Bible study that if you tried to speak that way to somebody that never heard it, they’ll look at you kind of funny and say,
‘What in the world are you talking about? What is Holy Ghost?’
You know, that means something to you but to somebody else they may not have a clue what you’re talking about.
So, yes, it’s important to endeavor to communicate in a way they can understand, but as you’re doing that REMEMBER, remember what is truly relevant to a sick man…is the Word on healing. What is truly relevant to a dying person, somebody that is dying from the inside to the outside – what is truly relevant is that Jesus Christ died for you and has come to save you! That’s what is relevant! Don’t ever compromise that. Don’t ever compromise the message of the Word of God. Don’t ever compromise the life of Jesus in order to be relevant to somebody else. No, your HOPE that you have on the inside is what’s relevant to a hopeless person.
There IS supposed to be a difference.
And Jesus even said it. He said,
‘Look, if the world hates you just know they hated Me first.’
Now everything Jesus said, EVERY word that came from that Man’s mouth is Good news. Every single word and even this word right here: The world is going to hate you. I know you think that does not sound like Good News but it is! It’s great news! ‘Because if the world hates you, you need to know they hated Me first.’
In other words, if they hate you it’s because you LOOK like Him. Then He went on to say in that same verse,
‘but if the world loves you, it’s because they love their own.’
In other words...
If they hate you it’s because you look like Him.
But if they love you, it’s because you look like them.
There’s supposed to be a difference.
Jeremy Pearsons, KCM
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