PNG Times

Blue Elephants and Christianity
Conformation vs. Transformation

Religious conformity has always been what the organized religious systems want – and what the members of those systems have come to expect – as normalized Christianity. 

The premise of this article is simply this: Information produces conformation and revelation produces transformation. Generally speaking, religious people expect religious conformation.  It sounds like this: we will give you the right information and you conform to it. In the Bible we find a different virtue: Transformation produced by revelation.

As humans we tend to associate with people who are much like ourselves.  We identify with a particular group by the way we dress, the things we like, and by our beliefs and interests. For instance, a person may wear country western style clothes, cowboy boots and listen to country music.  Others may wear ripped jeans, graphic tee shirts and listen to rock music.  Still others paint their faces, wear shells, crocodile teeth, vegetation and dance with drums.

Others may accept a political label, such a democrat, republican, socialist or communist as a means of identifying with a particular ideology. 

No matter what our beliefs and interests, we have a built-in need to be a part of something larger than ourselves.  Psychologically, we want and need community – to be accepted among those we consider our peers. Those that don’t have this drive are often labeled as “anti-social.”

I live in Papua New Guinea (PNG).  At the International airport there are many graphics representing the rich and diverse cultural of this Island nation. One has a person in tribal dress dancing.  The caption says, “We dance to disappear into something bigger.”

Tribal dances (called singsings) are group affairs.  They are dictated by culture. Everyone wears similar tribal dress and paints their faces with their tribal colors and motifs. There are around one thousand district ethnic tribes in PNG, all with unique tribal distinctives. The dances have been carefully choreographed for decades – if not centuries.  They are a part of the tribe. It is their identity. These things differentiate one tribe from another tribe. Even tribes that live close to one another, and have regional similarities, will have unique aspects of face painting and dancing. It is tribalism – an ‘us and them’ mentality.  If you are not with ‘us’ you are automatically part of ‘them.’

What a perfect – and primal – illustration of this principle of conformation.  Don’t be different.  Be like the rest of us. Only do what everyone else has done for years – or centuries in some cases.

While the social and cultural value of these singsings are significant (I love and appreciate the cultural diversity), there are a couple of inherent problems with any system that encourages conformity over diversity.

First, nothing is different. Most likely nothing will ever be different. The cultural expressions and traditions probably won’t change; they are rooted in ancient culture. They will probably just end up dying out and fading away as they become irrelevant to modern society and a younger generation who will leave the villages to seek education and work. The older folks will make an effort to maintain and teach the traditions, as well some of the younger ones who see value in preserving the culture. The sad fact is, that after a generation or two, the old traditions will be gone.

The second problem is that anyone who thinks differently will be treated, more or less, as an outsider by the others.

For many, their religious experience is no different. To be accepted, they conform.  We call this peer pressure. The influence exerted by a group value to be like the group.  In other words, CONFORMITY!

We should ask if this is God’s plan? According to the Bible, we discover a resounding NO!

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

Paul was a very educated man.  He had both Jewish religious training and secular education in the philosophical systems of the day.  He often used opposing words to emphasize a truth.  In this verse he uses the words conformed and transformed, to make his point.

Strong’s Greek Lexicon (#G4862) provides some insight into the meaning of the word conformed. In part, it says, “To conform one's self (i.e. one's mind and character) to another's pattern, (fashion one's self according to).”

Did you catch that?  To conform to another’s way of doing things.

The world wants to conform us to its way of doing and thinking.  The religious systems of the world are no different.  As human-driven institutions, they want conformity.  They do not tolerate differences.  And, as a result, those who want to belong – regardless of their motivation – feel the pressure to conform to that group’s thoughts and deeds.

Let’s look at conformation from a different aspect.  When I was a young, I liked to play with modeling clay.  I once made a blue elephant I was quite proud of. You know, with clay  you have can smash it up and form something else out of it – UNLESS – you let it dry in the form you made. I kept that blue elephant for some time.

Here’s one takeaway. I could change the outward appearance of the clay as much as I wanted, but its substance remained the same – blue modeling clay. Here’s another takeaway. Our hearts can become the same: molded and hardened.  God often accused His people of being “hardhearted and stiff-necked.” Selah!

Conformity is pressure applied to change the external appearance of a person or thing. This is the nature of religion.  Have you ever felt the pressure at church to be, act, talk or think a certain way – even if it wasn’t really a true expression of your own self? We all have! The danger is the tendency to conform without being transformed. The great tragedy is that this is what most people think church is all about.

On the other hand, Paul contrasted conformity with transformation.  He said, “Don’t be conformed (even religiously) …but be transformed….” 

Transformation has to do with changing the nature of someone or something.  Consider the first miracle that Jesus did.  He turned ordinary water into the best wine at a wedding feast.   This is transformation.  Jesus did not add color and flavoring to the water.  He changed its very nature.

It is unfortunate but, for many, all religion has done is added flavor and color to their lives.  They have never actually been transformed. They have only taken on a religious look and flavor.  When this happens one of two extremes tends to occur.  Either they end up being very legalistic and critical of everyone and everything that doesn’t conform to their religious views or, they tend to become very liberal and don’t really take a stand for much of anything. They talk about God and the Bible, but humanism prevails in their thinking. God is there for the benefit of man, not the other way around. The saying, “Don’t drink the Kool-aide” might apply here. (For those that don’t understand this cultural reference look up the Reverend Jim Jones and the People’s Temple on Google.)

There is a third – and a more spiritual option – spiritual transformation.  Most certainly a transformed person will look, think and act differently, but it will be powered by the Spirit of God and love, not religious legalism or liberalism.

Transformation is initially internal and becomes external, the transformed person is changed from the inside out. Confirmation is always external and, while it promises inward change, it has no ability to produce it. 

Religion starts on the outside with rules and rituals and attempts to work its way in. Spirituality starts on the inside and works its way out.  This is why Jesus told so many parables about the kingdom of God being like a seed. It also explains Jesus’ sharp word picture to the religious leaders about being white-washed tombs – outwardly decorated, but inwardly full of death (and by extension unclean).

Now, back to the water-made-wine.  Several things about this story should make us stop to see what was really happening.  First, on the surface, the first miracle Jesus did was kind of inconsequential don’t you think?. Only a relatively few drunk people at a wedding party benefited. (I know I will get flack over that statement, but it is true none-the-less.  We have to get past the wine/grape juice theology to get to revelation truth here.) Second, it was done in relative secrecy. The only people who knew about it were very few servants who saw the water turned to wine and took it to the master of the feast.  Do these facts make you curious as to what God might be saying to us?  It does me.

If it had been me, and I was going to perform my first miracle as the Christ (anointed one), I would have gathered a crowd and done something big and undeniable – like calling fire down from heaven.  They all knew the story of Elijah and how he proved God was with him by calling fire down from heaven.  This most certainly would have been an attention-getting event to launch His public ministry with.  But no, Jesus didn’t take this route to fame.

The fact that this miracle was His first one tells us something.  That it happened at a wedding tells us something else.  The miracle indicates that the basic ministry of Jesus is transformation, not conformation.  It was miraculous.  It was not by human effort and it was not a mere human result.  It was spiritual from start to finish.  Water, the most common thing on the earth, was changed into the rarest wine.  God transforms us from mere men and women to “new creatures in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

From the moment Adam sinned, man lost the indwelling Spirit of God.  Remember, God breathed the breath of life (His own Holy Spirit) into the man and he “became a living soul.”  When Adam sinned, he “surely died,” according to God’s warning. Throughout the next four thousand years, no person had the Spirit of God in them.  The Spirit of God only came on them in an external anointing.

God’s plan was to put His Spirit back on the inside of mankind (Galatians chapter 3).  This required Him to deal with the issue of sin – which was the original cause of the disconnect. He accomplished this with the death and resurrection of Jesus.  It is significant then, that on the night of His resurrection Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Ghost.” Faith – belief in the resurrection – produced salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9) and the Holy Spirit could once again dwell in a person.

The second point – that the miracle was performed at a wedding – indicates that this transformation takes place as a result of marriage.  It wasn’t just a party.  Paul tells us in Romans that we are dead to the law that we might be married to Christ (Romans 7:4).  The result of this spiritual union would be “fruit to God.”

God does not want us to be conformed to external religious experiences.  He wants us to be transformed through intimate union with Christ and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

In our keynote scripture (Romans 12), Paul tells us this transformation comes as a result of “renewing our minds.”  In other words, it is only as we learn to think differently that we really transform.  Otherwise, our religious efforts conform us at best.  This explains why some people try very hard to change – and seem to for a season – but often return to the old life struggles.  Being different requires thinking differently.

This is the foundational message of both John the Baptist and Jesus.  Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3).  The word translated “repent” literally means to think again, or to change your mind.  It doesn’t necessarily mean to stop sinning. What John and Jesus really said was, ‘You need to change the way you are thinking, because God’s Kingdom is here now.’ The old way of thinking was not going to get them into the spiritual Kingdom that was now on the scene.  Many of

Bible schools generally train preachers to provide information – usually doctrinal instruction or motivational encouragement.  They are not taught how to preach revelation truth. The goal of these institutions – and by extension – the preachers, is to produce religious conformity to the particular beliefs of the church.  As a result, people are not transformed, and church becomes an exercise in trying to get new people into the organization and keep the ones that are already members.  When membership becomes the driving force of the church, compromises are made to entertain the crowds to maintain the numbers.

On the other hand, revelation comes from the Holy Spirit.  Revelation knowledge and understanding is gained by spending time with God in the Word of God.  It is not man-taught.  It is God taught! Consider what Paul said about his preaching and teaching, In Ephesians chapter three he said that he received the understanding of the mysteries of God by revelation. Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers that God would “grant them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ…”. (Ephesians 1:17)

Paul knew others would need this same spirit of Wisdom and revelation he had experienced.  You can not teach the Bible like math or science.

Information can only produce conformation.  However, revelation brings transformation. We can look at this issue from a different angle.  On the day of the resurrection, Jesus appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus and taught them everything in scriptures concerning Christ.  They made an interesting statement: 

And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32

Notice He “opened the scriptures to them.” The result as that their very beings were being impacted.  This is revelation and it transforms those who hear it.

We do not need religious conformity in our churches.  We want transformed saints.  We do not need information and motivational messages; we need revelation from the Holy Spirit. 

Because revelation and transformation do not generally produce conformity, many preachers avoid it like the plague (pun intended). It requires more work, more faith, and more trust in the Holy Spirit to pastor a church full of transformed saints than a group of docile conformers who never question anything. However, we need to consider if the results we are experiencing with religious conformity are the ones we really want.  Personally, I don’t think so.  We will have to take some risks to allow the transformation of souls. 

You decide:

Information and Conformation.

Or

Revelation and Transformation!