Practising The Way

Last week we began to look at the series Practicing the Way based on the book by John Mark Comer and we’ve been studying this in family groups as well. Pete taught us last week on following Jesus and being an apprentice of Jesus - learning about Jesus, becoming like him and doing as he did. In fact those are the three goals of apprentices of Jesus:

To be with him

To become like him

and to do as he did.

Today we are looking at part 2 of Practising The Way - Spiritual Formation - the process by which our spirit (our inner selves) is formed into a particular shape or character.

I am not who I used to be! - Testimony

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Let look at this verse a little more deeply.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Paul is writing this letter to the Believers in Rome for many reasons, but one of those reasons is to bring unity between the Jewish believers now following Christ and the Gentile believers also following Christ. There were Judaizers going around, urging Jewish believers to maintain their Jewish roots, obeying the law, holding on to circumcision and maybe even practising sacrificial rituals, and many times in the letter to the Romans, Paul refers to this Jew-versus-Gentile issue. Paul did not take sides, but he carefully set forth both sides of the question. On the one hand he emphasized the historical and chronological priority of the Jews—“first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Rom. 1:16; cf. 2:9–10).

He also stressed the “advantage … in being a Jew” (3:1–2; 9:4–5).

On the other hand he pointed out that “since there is only one God” (3:30), He is the God of the Gentiles as well as the God of the Jews (3:29). And as a result “Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin” (3:9) and alike are saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And here in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 12, he is addressing the issue of no longer making animal sacrifices to God - he is explaining to Jews and Gentiles alike what the new process must be. We need to realise that this letter was written in around 58 or 57 AD - this is BEFORE the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem - that happened in AD 70. So the Jewish temple practice of sacrificing an animal for forgiveness of sin was still very much being adhered to by the Jewish Priests - so this was radical to the Jews! There was no need for animal sacrifice anymore as Jesus was the final sacrifice for forgiveness of sins - but it is more difficult to stop a cultural practice and this would have been radical thinking for the Jews.

Paul explains that we are to offer our own bodies as a LIVING sacrifice to the Lord.

A Christian’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19–20). The word “bodies,” instead of the animal ‘bodies’ sacrificed in the Old Testament sacrifices, represents the totality of one’s life and activities, of which the body is the vehicle of expression. In contrast with Old Testament sacrifices this is a “living” sacrifice. This offering is holy (set apart) and pleasing (cf. “pleasing” in 12:2) to God. Furthermore, it is spiritual (logikēn) worship (latreian). Latreian refers to any ministry performed for God, such as that of the priests and the Levites. Christians are believer-priests, identified with the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Heb. 7:23–28; 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6). A believer’s offering of his total life as a sacrifice to God is therefore sacred service.

Romans 12:2 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Then comes the conformed/transformed bit. So to be a living sacrifice, to be holy and pleasing to God we must not be conformed but transformed.

conform and transform

to conform means to fit into an already existing mould or ‘shape’ or an already existing culture - someone elses mould, doing things the way everyone else is doing them

Transform means to change our condition, nature, function or character for something better and Paul is clear in this verse that not only do you have to stop doing one in order to do the other, but there doesn’t seem to be any other choice - it is conform or transform - no other option.

So we should not be conformed to the mould, pattern, culture of the world (in the Greek aiwnios - actually meaning the ‘age’)

Then Paul says, But be transformed (pres. passive imper., “keep on being transformed”) by the renewing of your mind. The Greek verb translated “transformed” (metamorphousthe) is where we get the English word “metamorphosis,” a total change from inside out - the process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly - a change into something completely different and much better, more beautiful, richer, more colourful (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18). The key to this change is the “mind” (noos), the control centre of our attitudes, thoughts, feelings, and actions (cf. Eph. 4:22–23). As our mind keeps on being made new by the spiritual input of God’s Word, prayer, and Christian fellowship, our lifestyle keeps on being transformed.

so this is not a surface level behaviour modification, this is not something that you can do in your own power - this is deep change in the heart - only achieved by the continuous renewing of our mind, through exposure to the things of g`od.

Moreover - conform or transform are the only options - there is no other choice available! If you do not choose transform, you will be conformed to the pattern of this age, of this world - they are both present tense, they are both happening now and we need to purposefully choose transform, in order to not conform!

You see, conforming is passive - you don’t know you are doing it

Move from London to Bardney

I also see it in Primary to Secondary transition in school - Year 6 (sponges of learning) to year 7 transition - by the end of year 7 they are more concerned with how they look than what they are learning and quite honestly would be happy to learn nothing as long as they look cool in front of their peers!

The question is not - shall I be formed - the question is - who will form me - will I conform or be transformed?

John Mark Comer says that spiritual formation is not a Christian thing, it is a human thing - we are all changing - growing, maturing, gaining experience, we are all spiritually aware - choosing how you are formed is vital because you WILL be changed - you’ve been changing since the moment you were conceived in the womb - choosing WHO changes you is the key to good spiritual formation.

We all change throughout life, we are changed by many things:

genetics

relationships

trauma

accidents

mistakes

memorable events

childhood

education

pleasant and unpleasant experiences

There is stuff going on around us all our lives that shapes us - the world is happening all around us and is changing us - conforming us to its pattern - we have to intentionally decide who we are and what we allow to form us - conform or transform.

We will continually be formed - it’s not optional - if we allow it to be passive - if we have no intention in our formation - we become disillusioned, angry, frustrated at the world, because we are being conformed to the pattern of the world, but we - the people of God are not created for the world. We do not belong in this world, we are created for relationship with God, we are created for the kingdom of God, so as we find ourselves being more and more shaped into how the world works - there will be a tension in our spirit. If we do not choose to be transformed by the Holy Spirit in us, that tension will always be there as we are reluctantly and probably shamefully conformed to the pattern and behaviours of the world - this leads to sin as we turn our backs on God and that sin separates us from the relationship that we are created for, and so as we become more and more like the world - all the time knowing there is something else, something more, something better, but we forget how to access the relationship that we are created for and so we become more and more disillusioned, more and more fed up with the way the world works, but more and more conformed by it - all the while knowing that if we could just remember how to access it - theres a better, a place, a spirit that will transform us.

John Mark Comer calls this UNINTENTIONAL SPIRITUAL FORMATION.

You will be learning more about this in Family groups this week but essentially he says there are six elements that spiritually form us and we may not even be aware that it is happening:

Our habits - he says that we become what we regularly do. Going to Church, scrolling social media (doom scrolling through reels), going to the gym, reading, travelling - the things we DO habitually and regularly shape who we are; they shape who we become. We become the person our habits feed into - the exercise fanatic, the bookworm etc.

This is completely biblical as well - Paul makes this contrast in Galatians 5 - if we feed the spirit within us we will not feed the desires of the flesh. We have a choice - do the things that the Holy Spirit in us wants - or you will end up feeding the sinful nature (he refers to this as ‘flesh) and we the works of this will be evident - whereas if we feed the spirit - partake in habits that feed the desires of the spirit - the the fruit of the spirit will be seen in us.

Galatians 5:16–26 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

2. Relationships

We become like the people we spend time with. How many of you as children had parents that told you to choose your friends carefully, or that a particular friend wasn’t really the ‘type’ of person you should be hanging around with. Mine did - even unsaved parents can see the sense of this - we become like those we spend time with, we share their habits, we hear their stories, we like the things they like - they shape who we are.

3. Stories we believe

we are created to search for meaning, we need a narrative to frame our lives - I remember the days when I didn’t know who I was, or why I was here - I had no existential identity - I didn’t know where I fitted in the general scheme of things, in the big picture of the universe and time and why I was living at this particular time - I had no sense of direction or worth or purpose - I needed a framework to hang my life on, a reason to live, a purpose to fulfil - I needed meaning!

We look for stories to believe, sorting out the truth from fiction, hunting for what makes sense, searching for stories to believe - I don’t like the word stories because to me, an avid reader all through my childhood, a story is fictional. I prefer the term ‘narrative’ - but we all seek the true narrative to live our life by. Believing the Jesus narrative makes a very different person from the one that believes the atheist narrative, or the hedonism story - those that believe there is nothing after death and so you may as well live this life to the full, disregarding anyone that gets hurt, live a very different reality from the one who believes that God loves all people and we are tasked to love them too. Whatever narrative we come to believe are true, will determine the type of person we become.

John Mark Comer says that one of the reasons so many marriages fail is because they cannot live up to the Hollywood story of ‘happy ever after’ - although I do agree with that, I would also say that we have lost the cultural narratives of faithfulness, service to one another and monogamy and the cultural, sexual and social revolution since the 1960s has resulted in new cultural stories of ‘self,’ and ‘rights’ and ‘freedom’ to do what I want - which sound attractive at surface level, but Generation Z, who have seen the damage this has done to their parents and grandparents are now full circling back and creating their own stories - which for many is seeing them flood back into the church.

The stories we believe give shape to the thousands of decisions we make every day from how hard we work - if we have a work ethic AT ALL - how we spend our money, how we treat each other, whether we stay in relationships with people and how we view our relationship with God. Be very careful about the narrative you believe - it will shape who you are.

4. Environment - this is where our stories, relationships and habits come from. Whatever environment we live in or have grown up in - they have shaped who we are. someone who grew up in poverty will have a very different perspective on life than someone who grew up rich. If you (like me) grew up in a non-digital culture you may have a deep suspicion of screens and the internet, unsure of happens to your data - or maybe (also like me) your environment has forced you to learn to flourish in the digital age - that environment has caused you to learn the skills in order to survive in the workplace - either way - no-one can argue against the actual fact that today’s generation, brought up in an environment of digital skills and the internet being the source of all knowledge, shopping and social life, have not been affected or shaped by that environment. As soon as they discover they have control over their thumbs, they use them to mimic texting or screen swiping! We become like the environment we live in - we will become like our environment!

These forces work on us over time, having an unnoticed cumulative effect and we don’t notice it until one day we wake up in our 40s and realise how much we have changed! The experiences throughout our life deeply shape who we become.

These forces shape us passively, our change and growth is unintentional because just by living our lives we are being formed by these six powerful forces:

Habit

Relationship

Stories

Environment

through Time and experience

But we always have that choice of conform or transform. Experiences have the power to make us conform or transform. Loss of a loved one through death or divorce or abandonment can make us bitter and untrusting, or compassionate and pastoral to others facing the same loss. Living in poverty can drive us to crime or to entrepreneurship, we have the choice to conform or transform and if we don’t choose transform, we will be conformed - there is no other option. Conformation happens passively and silently - transformation has to be chosen and purposeful and we will find out as we do this course exactly how transformation can be chosen and purposed - but for now, the question we need to ask ourselves, is not “Am I being conformed or spirituall formed?’ The question is actually - “who is forming me? Who am I being shaped by? Am I choosing transformation? Or am I being unconsciously conformed??”