Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)
“Do not be conformed to this age…”
The first part of this verse always gives me pause. What are the values of this age that I ought not to conform to as a Christ follower? As a young woman growing up in more conservative sects of Christianity I was taught that meant not being too materialistic and abstaining from sex until marriage— a simplified teaching of this verse that caused me lots of insecurity. As I grow older, my view of Christ has changed from a terrifying, moralistic deity to a companion and guide on my life’s journey. So, let’s try to interpret this verse through that perspective and see what peace we can find.
This past Sunday’s Homecoming speaker, Erin Wiley, gave us another way to think about “not conforming to this age” and I will call it the complex of Not Enough. As we develop into adults, society reinforces our belief that we are not pretty enough, skinny enough, smart enough, wealthy enough, etc. Whatever insecurity you carry is a result of society reinforcing that you are not ________(fill in the blank) enough. Let’s challenge that thinking and try to reframe our understanding of self through this verse in Romans. What if Paul is saying “the world might try to reinforce that you are not enough, but Jesus does not think that about you and He’s the boss around here?” That reading of this verse would tell me that actually my body is the exact right size, my voice is the exact right loudness, my wardrobe is the exact right amount. That reading would be an invitation into the loving yourself portion of the commandments Jesus outlines for us: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.
“…but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
Erin highlighted two important words in this section of Romans 12:2: transform and renew. Both words call to mind the act of creation, to make again, make new. I argue that God often invites us into co-creating with Him, giving us permission to exercise free will in creating our own lives with Him. Transform is a word calling us to co-creation with God as well, one that involves us remaking ourselves all over again. It is the process of becoming a fuller expression of our created self. As for renew, Erin went back to the original Greek language and found that renewing is also a process of co-creating with God. Renewing is ongoing change that God participates in when we’re ready to grow.
So often, Christians believe their anxiety and depression come from their failure to rely on God. Instead, this reading invites God into our minds as we make them all over again, as we let go of what conforms us to this world (the Not Enough complex) and co-create with God the fullest expression of our created being.
If we think about not conforming to this world as a way to better love ourselves AND that transforming and renewing ourselves helps us to love God through practicing co-creation, we can understand this reading of the text absolutely aligns with our greatest call: To love God and each other and ourselves. And that is the good, pleasing, perfect will of God. Amen.