How exactly does the world shape us into its image? I recently asked my eight-year-old daughter a question, and she replied, “Whatever.” I asked her where she learned to respond to others’ questions in this way. Her response: “Everywhere.”

As a Christian leader, I am grieved by statistics indicating that believers and non-believers live almost identical lives: similar sexual ethics, spending patterns, and lifestyle choices. Despite spending millions of dollars on transformation campaigns, conferences, books, curricula, worship music, small groups, multimedia, Internet churches, and all forms of relevance and engagement, Christians are remarkably like the world.

This is compounded by real confusion about how to healthily engage the culture around us. So we end up, sadly, “of the world but not in it.” Why do our best efforts seem to make so little difference? And how can we help our people grow into actual Christ-likeness?

I agree with James Wilhoit, author of Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered:

“Spiritual formation is the task of the church. Period. Spiritual formation is at the heart of its whole purpose for existence. The church was formed to form. Our charge, given by Jesus himself, is to make disciples, baptize them, and teach these new disciples to obey his commands.”

The apostle Paul addressed this issue in a letter to a young church in one of the worldliest cities in history: Rome in the first century. After describing the human condition and the character of God, the power of the gospel, sin, law, grace, election, and love, Paul calls for a response:

“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.” (Rom. 12:1-2).

Paul knew, and I am coming to realize, that before we see real gospel transformation, we must be aware that the world in which we live is not neutral. We live in heavily contested space: The enemy of our souls is seeking to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10;1 Pet. 5:8).

On a human level, corporations compete for brand loyalty, educational institutions compete for worldview, and we are continually marketed to, mocked, rewarded, seduced, and compelled by the things around us.

Maybe Paul was trying to rouse the Romans to see that until we identify and confront the forces that seek to conform us, our attempts at transformation will be continually undermined. It’s like trying to bail water out of a sinking ship, while ignoring the work of plugging the holes that are causing the ship to sink.

We are trying to offer a solution to people, when they don’t really see that there is a problem.

Cultural formation
How exactly does the world shape us into its image? I recently asked my eight-year-old daughter a question, and she replied, “Whatever.” I asked her where she learned to respond to others’ questions in this way. Her response: “Everywhere.”

It’s this “everywhere” that shapes our lives.

Paul was asking the Romans to consider the larger forces that formed people into Romans. Then he wanted them to consider how Jesus transformed Romans into Christians.

Jon Tyson is pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Manhattan, New York.
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