Chameleon

Week One: Do Not Conform

The world has certain patterns to it that do not lead to a full life. Greed, anger, jealousy, materialism, and dishonesty are just a few of them. Paul instructs us in the book of Romans to no longer conform or blend in with the ways of the world, but instead we are to live as transformed people. Transformation doesn’t happen by accident; it is an intentional way of daily living.

Prayer - “God, I have been guilty of creating patterns in my life that do not lead to the full life you want to give me. Help me to get rid of the unhealthy patterns and to substitute them with healthier ones. Transform me into the child of God I was designed to be.”

Scripture - Romans 12:2, John 4:1-26, 5:1-9, 10:10, 2 Cor. 5:17

Introduction

Today, we are beginning a brand-new sermon series all about this same concept: standing out. 

The chameleon is the master of disguise. No matter what environment it’s placed in, it will change its color to disguise itself and fit in. Remember that one of the fundamental aspects of being a Christian is that we are easily identifiable when placed against the backdrop of the world. We naturally stand out, like the young soldier in our story. 

ONCE SAVED FAITH IN CHRIST ALONG BY GODS GRACE ALONE WE BECOME A NEW CREATION

However, the truth is that for many of us, we would rather blend in with the crowd than stand out in it. WE DON’T LIVE OUT THE NEW CREATION WE ARE

Today we are going to look at a very clear statement from the Bible regarding this topic of ours. If you have a Bible with you, turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 12. I want to read the second verse of this chapter, written by the Apostle Paul. He says very simply, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” In this sentence, Paul shows us the contrast we are going to unpack today: fitting in vs. standing out. 

Many of us can remember how important it was or is to fit in during the high school years.

It can feel like the only way to maintain a good number of friendships is by conforming your personality and habits to those around you who appear to have it all together. The upside is that if you conform and fit in you can begin to form a sense of community that you may never have experienced before. The downside is that what you’ll be experiencing is a false community. 

The only reason you were accepted was due to the person you were pretending to be. Once others discovered who you really are, they may leave - they may stay - but either way the whole process can be traumatizing. 

As Christians we are called to be like Christ, treat others like Christ, and interact with the world like Christ. If we say we are Christians and continue living like everyone else, we are hypocritical. You may have entire friend groups that know nothing of your faith or who you are in Christ, but just like we experienced in high school (or other places), these are false communities who only like us for who we’re pretending to be. 

God is calling us as followers of Christ to stand out, rather than to fit in. It’s not an easy process, but it’s an important one. Some of the questions we’ll be tackling throughout this series are; 

What does conforming look like? 

What are the patterns we as humans are tempted to conform to? 

What does true transformation look like in our lives by Christ’s definition? 

Then, once we know what transformation looks like, what is the purpose behind it?

Main Teaching/Body

We first have to get a grip on what conforming actually looks like in our world. The word “conform” means, “to assume a similar outward form (expression) by following the same pattern. (mold, model) With that in mind, our first point; 

Confronting Your Conforming

I wonder how many of us have tried to model our behavior after someone we looked up to or admired. As you grow up it’s almost like you “try on” others’ characteristics to see what “fits.” But, what happens when those patterns and behaviors grow up with you and they become your habits and characteristics? What if you don’t like them? What if you don’t like who you’ve become? 

There must be a confrontation. 

This can obviously happen in a multitude of different ways both externally and internally. But as believers we can expect that we will at different times in our lives, be confronted with the truth of God. 

Turn with me to John 4:1-26 so we can all see firsthand what this kind of divine confrontation might look like. 

Read John 4:1-26

John 4:1–26 NKJV

1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria. 5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” 19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

In John chapter 4, Jesus has an encounter with a woman from Samaria at a well. You see, in this culture, the Jews (of which Jesus was one) did not associate with Samaritans. They did everything in their power to avoid interactions with them...In fact most Jews would not travel through Samaria and would instead take a longer route to avoid Samaria and any contact with samaritans.

However, Jesus doesn’t care about social norms and taboos. He is interested in the redemption of all humankind. 

So, he goes to meet this woman as she comes to draw water around noon that day. Usually, all the women would come to draw water much later in the day, but this woman was so ashamed of her lifestyle that she wanted to avoid encounters with anyone. Nevertheless, Jesus meets her and offers her “living water.” He makes her aware -- her lifestyle will NEVER truly fulfill her, and will leave her thirsty. 

He says, “The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.” Jesus calls out the way she is living in order to offer her the better way of life found only in Himself, the Christ! 

You see, the path to deep transformation has to begin with confronting the negative, worldly patterns in your life. For the woman at the well, it happened in an actual encounter and conversation with Jesus who drew her attention to the destructive patterns of her life. 

Maybe Jesus is trying to call out things in your life that bring no eternal value. 

Maybe you have been following the patterns of those around you, because it is much easier to fit in rather than to stand out. 

Maybe you know you can keep friendships if you just fit in and follow others’ lead. 

Maybe Jesus is offering you the better way of life, here and now. Just like his encounter with the woman at the well He is offering you living water and abundant life (John 10:10). 

What will you do with His invitation? 

Do You Want to Get Well? Read John 5:1-9

John 5:1–9 NKJV

1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.

In this story, Jesus meets a man who has been an invalid for 38 years and is laying at the pool of Bethesda. Actually, in order to get to this particular man, it appears Jesus must’ve passed by many others who were also sick or handicapped (verse 5:3). So what was so special about this one man? Why didn’t Jesus just heal everyone in the pool that day? I’m not sure I know all the answers to the questions this passage brings up, but I do know it was time for the man to confront his conforming. 

Jesus literally confronts him there at the pool; “When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?” What Jesus was looking at was a man who had fully conformed to his circumstance. This is evidenced in his reply to Jesus when he says, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.” 

The handicap man was discouraged, obviously. He couldn’t see a pathway to healing. Yes, he wanted to be well, but when confronted with Jesus’ simple question, he was only able to respond with the reality he believed he occupied. He could only see the obstacles in front of him and I would argue that his condition, his suffering, his discouragement, etc… had conformed his thinking to a mindset of hopelessness. 

Little did he know, while he was staring at the pool of water in front of him, the living waters of Christ were staring into his soul… looking to bring healing and wholeness into his life on this particular day. 

This story and this example make you honestly wonder how many times a similar thing has happened in your life. How many times have you been staring at the thing you’ve been conformed to stare at and you completely miss the invitation of the Lord? 

The same question Jesus asked 2000 years ago is still relevant today. Do you want to get well? 

Or said another way, do you want the transformative power of God in your life? 

The World Conforms, While the Word Transforms.

The words of Christ challenged and confronted the man at the pool of Bethesda just like the words of Christ continue to challenge and confront us today. 

So much of the messaging you hear in life is inviting you to conform to a worldy image that falls short of the glory of God:

Buy a nicer car. 

Get a new home. 

You deserve better. 

You deserve more. 

Better, more, bigger, better, blah, blah, blah. 

The messaging of the Bible, however, invites you into the transformative power of God. 

The world conforms; the word transforms. 

If you are here today and you are trying to figure out why the negative pattern in your life still seems to be present, maybe it has a correlation to the time you spend with God in His Word. The world around us will gladly give us things to fill our time and before we know it, we have not spent any time with God. I believe that the more time we spend with God, the more we will begin to look like His Son Jesus. 

As Paul says in Romans 12:2, we need to have our minds renewed; “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Our minds are the most powerful supercomputers in the world and they are hard wired to store and recall all the information you take in throughout a lifetime. Maybe it’s time for a bit of rewiring regarding the filling of your mind. 

You are in need of spiritual and mental renewal. 

Let me tell you from personal experience that this Book (the Bible) is the source of what you are seeking. Anytime, anyplace, God is ready to meet you right where you are to take you where He wants you to be. 

Do you want to be healed? 

Do you want the transformative power of God in your life? 

Do you want the abundant life Christ refers to in John 10:10? 

Conclusion

Renewing your mind, being transformed, not conforming to the world around you…these things are not easy, but they’re worth it. You can look all around you to discover how to fit in and look like everyone else, act like everyone else, etc... However, you have to look both up and within to learn the art of standing out for Christ. 

What is God trying to do in your heart as we begin this series? What kind of self-reflective journey do you need to embark on this week to take steps toward transformation? What needs to happen in your daily routine to make room for the word of God? God desires to see you transformed. The question is -- do you want it?

Do you want to be healed? 

Jesus came to a world that He easily could have conformed to, but He chose to stand out. Because He took this path, the result was His death on a cross. But the story wasn’t over…in fact it was just beginning.