Romans pt 5: Church Patterned after the World. (Ro 12:1-6)
By Pastor Tommy Preson Phillips
“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. 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.“
Romans 12:1-2
Romans 12 is ubiquitous in evangelical circles. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I heard this verse quoted for everything from short skirts to rock music; from cigarettes and beer to Harry Potter books, there was no shortage of things that “conformed to the world” that we should look out for.
But what of Pauls audience – these Jewish and Gentile Christians living in first century Rome – what would theyhave thought of when Paul says this?
Ruins containing symbols of a Christian Church in the wealthy Roman city of Laodicea, modern day Turkey.
If you’ve studied Roman culture at all, then you likely know about the concept of the Cursus Honorum, the Path of Honor, that everyone was on. It might be accurate to consider it in the same way that we might speak about “the American way,” independence, freedom, self governing… attributes that form how our society has developed up until this point.
The Cursus Honorum explained in the simplest of terms, is simply the striving of Roman men and women to climb the ranks of honor and status. It was at the heart of almost everything that Romans did; if a Roman thought “that would hurt my honor and lower my status,” they would never take part in it. If, however, they took part in something that raised their honor and status, they would boast. They would proclaim it from the rooftops and you would be sure to hear about it! The Path of Honor was how a Roman determined wether or not something was the will of the gods because it was widely believed that the gods judged humans the same way that humansjudged humans. So if people thought it was a great honor, then certainly the gods did too!
With all of this in mind, lets do a quick run through of Romans 12:1-6 and see if we can now read it a little differently.
V1-2: Paul tells the Romans that Gods will is not the same as the will of humanity. He is not impressed by the same things that we are, and if you want to know Gods “good, pleasing, and perfect will” (v2), then you will need a new mindset because, as far as Paul can tell, they have fully “conformed to the patterns of this world” (v2).
V3: Paul starts off by talking about the gift that God has given him, he calls it a “grace,” which is the Greek word for gift. He was likely referring to his gift of preaching; It is a gift that any Roman would brag about and boast about (much like the Corinthians were doing, as we can see from 1 Corinthians 13). But Paul, with his preaching gift, tells them:
“By the gift given to me, I say to all of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”
THE PATTERN OF THIS WORLD
The “pattern of the world” is the phrase that Paul uses for what the Romans would call “The Cursus Honorum.”
The path of honor required selfishness, boasting about your abilities and accomplishments, putting yourself first, striving to rise above others, and boasting about both what you have and have accomplished.
That is what worldliness looks like in the mind of Paul. It is un-evenness of any kind.
And Pauls answer to worldliness is very simple, and very Christian, the spiritual gifts!
V4-6
”Romans 12:4–6 (NIV): For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.
The mindset of Christ starts, not with us as individuals, but us collectively – the church – as a body with many parts. It starts with the realization that, while you may possess some impressive skills, these gifts are from God and for others. Not only that, but the mind formed by Christ realizes that you need the gifts of the others at the table in order to really know what Gods “good, perfect, and pleasing will” is.
So when the Christian finds herself in competition and judgement; when the Christian finds himself in envy, trying to climb some social ladder in the church; when the Christian strives for prestige and honor in the church, they are actively bringing the worldliness of the Empire into the holy community of the church, damaging and dividing the family.
The Christian community is one of mutual submission, of humbling ourselves, and meeting at the bottom. It does not judge others as better or worse, nor higher or lower than anyone else in the church. Instead, the church that has a mind renewed by Christ is a church that honors the poor and rich equally, and honors the educated and illiterate equally. It is a community shaped by the cross (humility), not the sword (power).
SYMPTOMS OF WORLDLINESS IN THE CHURCH.
I would argue that symptoms of worldliness in the modern church include several things:
– Titles of Honor: It was very normal in my youth to witness churches granting honorary doctorates, monogrammed jackets, and special seating for those who were considered higher in the church. This is a behavior learned from the empire, not Jesus.
Jesus, in fact, confronted this in Matthew 23:8 when he told his followers not to desire honorific titles.
– Celebrity Pastors: This is a much newer phenomenon in the church, and is the most blatant example of “conforming to this world” that we can see today. It is more Roman than Christian; more American Empire than Christs Kingdom.
Jesus’ would never have been confused with Roman celebrities in his day as that would require shunning those who hurt his “public persona,” the same lowly ones that he gathered publicly around his table.
– Special Access: I have recently become aware of pastors who will meet with members of their church who give at a certain level as a way of giving the wealthy special access to leadership in ways that keep the poor out of influence. The renewed mind likely would swing the opposite direction, ensuring that the lowest and weakest are given priority.
Jesus publicly rebuked this kind of behavior in Matthew 19, when he brings the children into the center of his teaching.
WHAT IS THE CURE FOR WORLDLINESS?
The cure to all this – according to Romans 12:3-11 – is the recognition that the Spirit has equipped each person to serve his church with the tool, the gift, that he has given them.
Here are two ways that the Spiritual Gifts keep us from worldliness:
The gift of the lay person is equal to that of the Pastor.
There is no hierarchy in the Godhead, and there is no hierarchy in the church. There may be roles and offices, but these things are not driven by the power wielding postures of the world. Rather, the first will become last and the last will be first.
Your Spiritual gift is not yours, it belongs to the church.
There is no reason to be threatened/envious/jealous of the gifts of others, for they belong to you as well. We are one body, and God has brought us together because he knew that I needed what you have, and that you need what I have.
As we recognized the gifts in each other, and as we submit to letting each other speak into our lives, we become more like Christ and less like the country in which we live, wether it be Rome, or America.
TommyPresonPhillips
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