Worship : the renewed mind and the transformed heart

Praxis not practice

When I first started to consider Romans 12 for the purposes of today, I wondered whether there’d be enough to talk about. After all, the chapter is (for the most part) a list of imperatives requiring, you might think, little explanation. Aren’t these things we simply have to do, rather than spend time talking or even thinking about?

However, it became quickly apparent to me that Romans 12 is not about practice but about praxis. This isn’t a list of activities that we mindlessly repeat in order to get better at them (i.e. practice). Praxis is the practical outworking of principles that have been discerned by the mind; the mind is fully engaged.

The imperatives of Romans 12 hang on all the indicatives of Romans 1-11. That’s the significance of the opening word of the chapter - therefore - the praxis of Romans 12-15 hangs on the theology of Romans 1-11. So, there’s lots to think about!

Redefining worship?

One of the adjustments I’ve had to make to my own narrow thinking as a result of studying this chapter is in respect to how I define worship. Worship is not confined to the Remembrance. I might go further and say that worship isn’t even mostly about the Remembrance, though we might say that our entrance into the holies on a Sunday morning is the pinacle of our worship.

Twice in Matthew’s gospel, the Lord Jesus is recorded as quoting the words spoken through the prophet Hosea:

Hosea 6:6 NIV

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

External formality means nothing unless there is inner spiritual vitality, characterised by mercy in this text. Now, Romans 12 is a chapter full of mercy: God’s mercy to us; and our answering mercy to others, in our life of worship.

I say ‘life’ because that’s what woship is - it’s an all-of-life activity. Romans 12:1 talks about the offering of our bodies, but ‘body’ isn’t limited to the physical; it carries the sense of the ‘embodied life’. Certainly, that includes our physical bodies and, indeed, every part of them. Paul stressed that in Romans 6:

Romans 6:13 NIV

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

But we’ll see that this living sacrifice encompasses the fullness of our embodied lives - namely our soul, mind, heart and strength! And it’s precisely this whole-life surrender that is said to constitute our true and proper worship.

I want to draw your attention to the word for worship. There are several words in the original languages of the bible that are translated ‘worship’ in our English bibles (often conveying ideas such as bowing, kneeling, valuing highly etc.). The Greek word for worship in Romans 12:1 is from the verb λατρεύω (latreuo - service) and it is usually applied to worship-service in a cultic sense, i.e. in connection with organised, regulated, collective, public worship. In the Scriptures, the word is used frequently (in LXX) in Exodus and Deuteronomy in connection with the collective service of Israel as they were gathered by God to Sinai to receive the covenant and, later, in connection with the service of the sanctuary. When Paul reflects with anguish upon his own people, in Romans 9:4, he says:

Romans 9:4 NIV

the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.

‘Temple worship’ is how the NIV translates that word in Romans 9:4. That’s helpful, I think, in giving us the sense of the word.

I’d always figured that the use of λατρεύω in Romans 12:1 was an exception to the normal usage of that word in the Scriptures. I had the idea that Romans 12:1 spoke to individual worship. But it's no exception! Romans 12 wasn’t addressed to individuals, it was addressed to a church. And it comes to us in just the same way: as community exhortation (Rom 12:1-2) and community instruction (Rom 12:3-21). This is about our collective worship-service as God’s new covenant people, gathered together to form his house!

Paul hints at collective purpose with his little play on the word ‘body’ (see Rom 12:1, 4-5). He hints at it by speaking of a singular sacrifice: bodies (plural) are offered; together they comprise a singular living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. And he put its beyond doubt by the use of this word for worship, a word rich in historical significance given its application to Israel’s priestly service in connection with God’s house.

And he says to church in Rome and to us, today, this is your true and proper worship. There’s only one word in the original language; it’s the Greek word λογικός (logikos - reasonable, rational, spiritual). It’s difficult to capture its meaning in a single English word, so the translators of the NIV have used two.

First, true, expresses the fact that λογικός means rational or thoughtful, involving the use of the mind. What Paul is saying is quite shocking. He’s contrasting the material, external worship ordinances of the OT with the inner, spiritual surrender of the NT - the sacrifice of our mind to Christ. I think the NIV tries to capture something of that contrast by using the word ‘true’. This your true, your rational, your spiritual worship - it’s unlike anything that Israel experienced under the old covenant!

Second, proper, expresses the fact that λογικός means reasonable, that is something which stands to reason. Why is our worship proper? Why is it logical? It’s because of the mercies of God! Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy… That’s the theology that Paul has been unpacking in the first 11 chapters of this letter. Dry theology? Absolutely not! It’s the doctrine of the mercies of God and it’s fundamental to everything we’re going to be trying to apply in chapter 12.

The renewed mind

So how do we worship as verse 1 encourages? How are we, as a community, to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice? Romans 12:1 uses figurative language, but Romans 12:2 makes it more real. I believe verse 2 actually interprets verse 1 and the link word that persuades me of that is the word ‘pleasing’. The living sacrifice is pleasing and the doing of God’s will is also pleasing.

So:

the living sacrifice, the true and proper worship (of verse 1) corresponds with our collective ability to test and approve the will of God (in verse 2); and

the offering of our bodies (in verse 1) corresponds to the process (in verse 2) of being broken from the world’s mould and being transformed into the likeness of Christ. That’s a process that begins with the renewing of our mind. Our mind needs a radical change of worldview. It needs to be reprogrammed.

So, to reiterate my earlier point, this isn't about changing behaviours; it’s not about practice but praxis. We’re not interested in cleaning the outside of the cup. This is a thorough transformation, from the inside out.

The living sacrifice, then, is primarily a sacrifice of the mind to Christ. You’ll remember that in the burnt offering, the whole animal was to be consumed in the sacrifice. I think what Paul is saying in Romans 12 is that the mind must be thoroughly renewed, wholly sacrificed, completely consumed by Christ!

How is the mind consumed by Christ? By being renewed in the mercies of God. In fact, as we’ve seen already, this is the only logical consequence of the mind viewing the mercies of God.

You want to be renewed in your mind? Then, view the mercies of God. This isn’t a secret process or one which is hard to fathom. It’s really quite simple to explain. Fill your mind with the mercies of God. Immerse yourself in them daily, remembering that this process is a continuing one.

Feast on the Scriptures that speak of God’s mercies. Find ways of committing them to memory. Let your mind be consumed by his mercies in the gospel. Learn to preach the gospel to your soul rather than listening to its own emotions. These are the daily disciplines that we must be careful not to neglect in order that, collectively, there might be the living sacrifice.

If time allows, add: renewal is not by human effort. It is the Spirit who renews through the Word. But it requires active dependence. For our part, we practice the spiritual disciplines.]

The reshaped heart

So, the living sacrifice begins with the renewing of our mind. And that result in a reshaped heart - a heart which is after God’s own, whose affections have been aligned with his.

You see the way this works: from changed thinking comes changed valuing. The mind affects the heart.

The result of renewing our mind is that we can test and approve what God’s will is. That, I suggest to you, is heart activity. Valuing what God values. Here’s another one of these Greek words that can’t really be translated by a single English word - δοκιμάζω (dokimazo - examine, test, approve) - so the translators have used two words.

Knowing that gold is gold and valuing it as gold are not quite the same thing. Likewise, honey. We could carry out a scientific test to prove that the substance in the jar in front of us has the molecular structure of honey. But to approve it as honey, it has to be put on the tongue! That’s when we delight in the fact that this is honey!

The renewed mind and the reshaped heart do both. They discern the will of God and they delight in the will of God. They test and they approve God’s will, which means also that they do it!

And what is God’s will? What does this true and proper worship look like in the life of the worshipping community? Well, Paul’s about to describe it in some detail. But first, he summarises it in 3 words: it’s that which is good, pleasing and perfect (see similar trilogy in Col 1:10).

Good is a link word, appearing multiple times in the chapter. It frequently expresses benefaction and usefulness to other humans and that’s how it’s used in the rest of the chapter, in contrast to evil. Evil tears others down, but good builds them up. So, God’s will is that which is good (for others).

Pleasing expresses an acceptability before God. Like the fragrant aroma of the OT sacrifices, a sweet smell rises from the living sacrifice of the NT. It is something in which God takes great delight. So, God’s will is that which is pleasing (to him).

Perfect carries the thought of achieving an end, a goal, a purpose. God’s will achieves our completion. So, God’s will is that which is perfect (for us).

I think this may be another of Paul’s great trinitarian exclamations. Certainly, I enjoyed the thought that the particular work of the three persons of the Godhead is revealed in this definition of the content of God’s will.

The good led me to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, as that grace is ministered to the world through the good work that has been prepared in advance for us to do.

The pleasing led me to the love of God the Father, who has so designed and ordained our collective service that he might delight in us.

And the perfect took me to the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, who continues his work of sanctification in us until its perfect end in glory.

You might ask, who’s serving whom? Surely our God is serving us even as we test and approve his will (Acts 17:25; Mark 10:45)!

Summary

So, to summarise the process we see in these verses:

View God’s mercies - by dedication to his Word; that will lead to the

Renewing of our mind - discerning God’s will; which in turn will effect the

Reshaping of our heart - delighting in God’s will; so that we live a

Transformed life - doing God’s will in ministry and in mission; which collectively is our

True and proper worship service, as God’s new covenant people