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, Romans 12:2
As I look at the lineup of pictures on our buffet, I am impressed with the appearance of all of those happy and healthy looking babies! As each of our grandchildren reached the age of five months, their pictures were taken and we received a copy of each. Those framed pictures stand in a delightful array. But there is something about those pictures that amazes me more than their healthy and happy appearance; it is how those pictures no longer resemble the children as they appear today. As the grandchildren have grown, they have changed radically in their appearance, with the disappearance of the baby fat and many other changes. Some of the pictures are even difficult to identify, because time has so transformed the children from what they looked like as babies. It should also be difficult to identify Christians today when compared to what we were in the bygone time before we were saved.
Our text tells us that being transformed is better than being conformed. We don’t want to be conformed to the world, do we? The word ‘conformed’ refers to taking on the same shape. I recently read of a study in which researchers were able to identify smokers by the presence of similar age lines and marks on their faces. This means that smokers are conformed to a particular appearance. In certain ways, they all look alike. As Christians, we need to be careful that we don’t have the telltale marks of the world on us. Not only should we not have smokers’ age lines, but we should not have drinkers’ beer belly or other outward marks of sinful habits. We should not conform to the world’s potty talk and profane language and preoccupation with immorality and sinful lifestyles. We should not conform to the world’s fashions and styles, especially when those fashions lead to immodest displays of our bodies. We should not conform to the world’s disrespect for God and His Word and His Gospel, or take part in the growing apathy toward the gross sins and immoral lifestyles that we see all around us. Conformity with the world is bad for our Christian testimony.
The word ‘transformed’ refers to taking on a new or different shape or appearance. Our text speaks of the transformation being a result of the renewing of our minds, that is, the bringing of our minds into harmony with that of our Lord. Our salvation transformed us from sinners into saints. But our study of the Word of God, our prayer and meditation, our attendance to good ministry of the Word, our keeping company with the Lord’s people, our involvement with the Lord’s work, these all have a transforming effect on us. Just as time transformed those cute and cuddly babies into vibrant and delightful children and adolescents, so our spiritual exercise transforms us into the image of Christ.
Are we conformed or transformed? That depends on whether our minds are on the world or on our Lord Jesus. -Jim MacIntosh