Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,
so that you may discern what is the will of God --
what is good and acceptable and perfect.

These words from Paul's letter to Christians in Rome are well known to many. And I've heard many people affirm these words over the years. My own tradition speaks of how sin corrupts and distorts all people and institutions so that they all need to be transformed. We even speak of the Church as an agent of "Christ transforming culture."

However, in practice things often seem to work in the other direction. The increasingly polarized political landscape in our country is mirrored by increased polarization in my own denomination. And some of the same issues -- abortion and gay rights -- provide fault lines dividing groups who yell at one another but seldom listen to each other.

As a pastor, a religious professional, I find that I often measure myself by the standards of "this world." Moving to a bigger congregation is a step up the career ladder. Membership, attendance, and financial statistics are measures of my successes or failures. And I sometimes wonder if my motivations are any different from a bank manager or a company CEO. So much for being transformed.

I suppose these are the hazard of religious professionals everywhere, but I think we Americans have an added problem. Our tendency to think of America as a "Christian nation" can seem to put God's stamp of approval on our culture. Sometimes when I hear people talking about restoring America's Christian values by putting up displays of the 10 Commandments and returning prayer to the schools, I wonder if they suppose that 1950s America was the Kingdom on earth, that it was not a part of same world in Paul's warning, "Do not be conformed to this world."

Many people have noted over the centuries how faith tends to get domesticated by the powers that be, how it gets put into service supporting and propping up the status quo. And so a blessed, Christian nation embraced human slavery in the 19th century and government mandated racial discrimination in the 2oth. You can add your own examples for the 21st.

Curious that a faith focused on a Messiah regarded as so dangerous that the religious and political rulers or his day had him executed, so often becomes an agent of conformity. And I think Paul's letter is a reminder to each of us, and to the Church as a whole, that our desire to conform can easily hinder the work of the Spirit.

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