Scripture reading, Romans 12:1-2 (NIV).
1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
2 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.”
Introduction
Last week, we spent some time together discussing the difference between a fan of Jesus and a follower of Jesus.
Knowing that we must transform, the question is… “how?” Answering the question, “how to transform” has two parts to it.
Part 1: Practice Spiritual Discipline
I am sure that you have heard that disciple & discipline have the same root. Let’s then step off with discipline as a way of following Jesus.
Spiritual disciplines are those exercises found in Scripture that stimulate spiritual growth among followers of Jesus. They are habits of devotion, habits of practical Christianity that have been practised by God’s people since biblical times.
A spiritual discipline is derived, not divorced from the Gospel. They are there to guide us deeper into the glory of the Gospel as we grow into a deeper understanding of the Gospel.
The spiritual disciplines found in Scripture are sufficient for knowing and experiencing God. Be careful of “spiritual disciplines” that are not directly grounded in Scripture. If these “disciplines” were necessary to the revelation of God and therefore, spiritual growth, they would have been in the Bible.
Spiritual discipline is an activity. Not an attitude. By means of an example, one might have a prayerful attitude, but that attitude is not a substitute for actual prayer.
Do not confuse spiritual discipline with the Fruit of the Spirit. This comes back to activity, but an activity that leads to being. As we practice spiritual discipline, we become more like Jesus. We want to be like Jesus and spiritual discipline is the “how.”
Spiritual disciplines must be shaped by the Bible. Gardening, for example, might be good for the soul, but is gardening somewhere in the Bible to this end? You can pray or meditate on memorized Scripture while gardening but gardening itself is not a spiritual discipline. If a spiritual discipline is not in the Bible, then it means that we can choose for ourselves what is best for our spiritual maturity and how God reveals Himself.
Some spiritual disciplines are personal, while others are interpersonal. Jesus practised both. Let’s use prayer as an example, there are times when we pray with our brothers and sisters, and times when we pray alone. This also drives home the need to engage with brothers and sisters in Christ.
Finally, spiritual discipline is a means, not an end. Let me explain by quoting the last half of 1 Timothy 4:7, “…train yourself to be godly.” The context here is Paul is passing instructions on to Timothy, first explaining that some will depart from the faith and secondly what it is to be a good servant of Jesus. Practising spiritual disciplines do not make you godly, they are means (training) toward being “…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.”
With this in mind, the spiritual disciplines (I am not giving a complete list of all biblical references) are study (2 Timothy 3:16), prayer (Matthew 6:6), fasting (Matthew 6:16-18), meditation (Psalm 1:2), simplicity (Romans 12:3), solitude (Matthew 14:23), submission (Ephesians 5:15-21), service (John 13:12-16), confession (1 John 1:9), worship (Psalm 95:6), guidance (Matthew 6:33) and celebration (1 Chronicles 16:34).
There are many classifications, interpretations, and applications of disciplines. I will, at a later date, do a teaching series on the disciplines. But for now, get busy practising them in such a way that it brings you closer to being like Jesus.
Part 2: Being Leads to Reflecting His Glory
As we come to know God, it is natural for us to fall more deeply in love with God.
As we fall more deeply in love with God and recognize God’s provision and love for us, our lives start to look different. We begin to think and act like Jesus. That means a life apart from anger, lust, lying, vain glory etc.
As we grow in understanding where we are and who we are, we act as followers of Jesus. As our hearts are changed, our lives also begin to change, and the ultimate expression of this change comes in our relationships with others.
Just as our perception of God and of our self is transformed and healed, we begin to see other people as precious children of God.
An apprentice is someone who follows and learns from a master for an amount of time to learn an art or trade in which the master is an expert. To be a follower of Jesus, to be a disciple of Jesus is likened to a lifelong apprenticeship. Theologically we refer to this lifelong journey as progressive sanctification. It is a lifelong process of growing to become like Jesus, to live for Him and do His will in every aspect of your life. This means that we must be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
We received the Holy Spirit in all His fullness at conversion; indeed, conversion without the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit is impossible. When a person converts, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within them and starts to transform them and grow them in Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit that energises our efforts to follow Christ. The Spirit is the presence of God for us to transform us, teach us, encourage us, empower us, and guide us in following Jesus so that we become like Jesus in every aspect of our lives. The Holy Spirit is connecting us to experience the fullness of a relationship with God.
Have you realized that we are people of stories? Think carefully about this, not only were we raised with stories, but as life happens, we translate that happening into a narrative every time we recall it or tell it over. In a sense, our narratives shape us. As we conform to the image of Christ, our narratives must transform.
To expand a bit, our narratives; the stories we live by also give our life purpose and explanation. Narratives are often at work in our lives without our realizing it as they help determine our attitudes, our thoughts, our behaviours, and our actions. We have narratives about God, self, and others.
But many of us have narratives about God that do not match the narratives of Jesus. So many live with “faulty” narratives which impact thinking and feelings about God and therefore, ultimately, our actions and the lives we lead.
By means of an example, there is an entire self-help industry out there, which certainly has an important place in the narratives that guide us, but because it’s self-help, it can’t do the Holy Spirit’s work and transform us into the image of Christ. Self-help is the wrong narrative for spiritual transformation.
If you believe that God is angry and waiting for us to make a mistake or sin, or if you believe that God isn’t always good and trustworthy, or if you believe that we must earn God’s grace you have the wrong narrative.
You cannot change behaviour until the guiding narrative changes. We are therefore challenged to measure our narratives against Jesus’s and see if they match up. Part of being transformed into the image of God is the Holy Spirit working in us to transform our narratives into alignment with Jesus’ narratives.
An important component of transformation is community. We are meant to live and love in the community. Take a few moments and define or describe for yourself the community in which you spend most of your time. What is your office or professional community like? Your friendship community? Your church/ministry community? Now read Acts 2:42-44 as an example of what I think the Godly community should be, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.” In what way does the Acts 2 community differ from your communities, particularly your church/ministry community?
The fact is that we need each other. We cannot change on our own or in isolation. We need other people on the journey with us to encourage and challenge us. Spiritual growth happens most intensely in the context of community.
Conclusion
I have saved the strongest for last. Let’s recall the first sentence of Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” It’s an instruction, not a request.
- Do not…
- Be…
And let’s reintroduce the second sentence, “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
The untransformed mind is incapable of discerning God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will.
I close with question 1 and its answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism:
Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
Amen.