If Culture Is Broken, Then What?

Romans 12:1-3

I have written a total of 14 devotions on "Broken Culture". I could keep going, but I think we get the point. There is something terribly wrong with the world around us. To be fair, most of us realized that anyway. So, what are we supposed to do? Paul wrote to the Romans who were in a culture that was just as broken as ours. He gave them spiritual advice to help guide them in the world they were trying to traverse. His advice is what we need as we go through this life as well!

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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.  For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

Romans 12:1-3

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Paul told the Romans that being a living sacrifice was reasonable. This verse could be reworded to say, "Any reasonable person would conclude that offering your life as a living sacrifice to God should be done in light of His saving you from Your sins and giving you life everlasting". The "therefore" connects what Paul is about to say, with what he has said previously in his writing. Because Jesus died so that we can live, we should live for Him.

Verse two gives us something that we should not do and something that we should do. We begin with what not to do. We are not to be conformed to this world. In other words, we are not to be made in the image of this world. We are not to become part of this culture. We have to stand out and be different.

Paul said instead of being made in the image of the world, which is natural for us, we are to be transformed into the image of God. The word transformed is the Greek word from which we get our word metamorphosis. We may begin as an ugly caterpillar, but we are to be changed into a beautiful butterfly. The caterpillar must stay connected to the world, but the butterfly is free to fly above everything around it. It can defy the pull of the world and rise above. Yet, it still exists in the world and brings beauty and wonder and the change that took place in its life.

In verse 3, Paul continues by telling us that we are not to think too highly of ourselves. If we think too highly of ourselves, we will not believe that we need to continue the metamorphosis. We will like being a caterpillar because we think we are the best that there is. We will stay grounded and conformed to this world and never experience the freedom that we can have by being transformed into the image of Jesus. There is freedom because we become what God intended us to be all along. Yes, the world will resent us at times, but that is because they are still caterpillars walking in the world.

That is the gospel! We were just like everyone else, but Jesus changed us. It was through His Salvation that we became something different. We tell others that they too can be transformed into what we are, but they have to be willing to break away from who they are. They have to call upon the Name of the Lord (Romans 10:13). The butterfly does not walk on the ground so that the caterpillars feel better about themselves or so that they do not call him names. Rather, he sets the example of a new life. A life of freedom that can only be experienced after the transformation. It is available to all the caterpillars if they will be changed.

Father, I thank You that You gave us examples in nature to understand what You call us to in Jesus. So often we go back to our old lives and way of living to try and fit in. When we do this, the world does not see the life that is available to them in You. We pray that You change our hearts and our lives to be more like Your Son.