Do Not be Conformed to This World- The True Authentic Self? Romans 12
In our reading from Romans, Paul tells us to “not be conformed to this world”.
Paul isn’t talking about trees and rocks and rivers. “The world” Paul is talking about is something like human beings organizing themselves apart from God and God’s ways. “The world” is what we are talking about when we think of human movements like Naziism, where an ideology about an ideal of human beings can lead to horrifying results. Or Communism under someone like Stalin, where an ideal of society can lead to the sacrifice of many lives as they seek their imagined utopia. … Someone like the pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was able to not be conformed to the “world” he found himself in. How was Bonhoeffer able to stand apart from Naziism when so many others adopted that way of thinking?
The institution of slavery was an assumed reality. How was someone like William Wilberforce able to fight against slavery in the British Empire, when so many people around him and throughout history around the world accepted it as normal? … How were they able to “not be conformed to this world”? …
Unless we feel that our society perfectly matches the kingdom of God, then we should have times when we feel tension- like we don't fit in.
Human beings live in cultures. This comes with certain assumptions and beliefs. We don’t really even notice it. It’s like having an accent. You don’t think you have one until you travel to where people speak differently. … Our culture gives us a certain set of assumptions. It isn’t something we are taught. It’s something we just seem to absorb. It is like a lens through which we see the world. These assumptions ingrain in us a sense of what is most valuable, and what is least valuable. They instill in us a sense of what makes life worth living, and what counts as a successful life. These assumptions underlie what stories bring tears to our eyes. … These assumptions are so basic to the way we think and feel that that we don’t even feel the need to explain why we hold them- we might not be able to explain why we think and feel the way we do.
I recently read a book about Expressive Individualism[1] by a theologian named Carl Trueman, which is probably the main underlying reality of our culture right now. This is
“the idea that the unique you is the core of feelings within you, and in order to be truly and fully you, you should be able to express those feelings outwardly. … The real me is my feelings, and the ability to express those feelings outwardly makes me an authentic person”.[2]
To have those feeling unacknowledged, or hindered in their expression causes me psychological discomfort and stands in the way of me being who I really am- it causes me to feel like I’m living an inauthentic life. That is what Expressive individualism is.
We have given this inner self incredible authority. It’s almost as if our subjective feelings matter more than objective reality. … We grant authority to how we feel in a way that previous generations didn’t. In ages past, the idea of who we are was more marked by things like family lineage, the land ancestors lived on, and social status in the hierarchy of society. A person was most themselves when they were fulfilling their societal roles and responsibilities. … In previous ages, the self was something that came to us from the outside, like our name. It was given to us.
Based on the assumptions of Expressive Individualism, a valuable life is one where we know who we are (by acknowledging our psychological inner feelings) and can express ourselves outwardly to society in a way that we are heard, respected, and accepted, which we believe will leave us feeling psychologically fulfilled. … If something stands in the way of me expressing my authentic self, then I feel myself to be oppressed because of the psychological discomfort I feel when that happens. These assumptions about the authentic true self and its place in society has an affect on almost all parts of our life. … It’s not necessarily a good or bad thing on its own. It’s just the lens our society uses to look at the world. It’s the water we are all swimming in.
I know this can be tricky to wrap your head around, so I’ll give a few examples of where we see this. … Expressive Individualism can be seen when someone evaluates a church service by how it made them feel. They might say that we sang their favourite hymns, which is to say that they were happy that they could express themselves in the way they wanted. But, we might be challenged by someone from another time or culture for whom their main focus isn’t Expressive Individualism. They might evaluate the church service by asking if God was worshipped in an accurate way. Or, if, as a result of worshipping, they were more shaped by the character of God. …
There are other examples. Modern dancing at a nightclub is a very individual expression. The dancefloor is full of individuals expressing themselves. A few hundred years ago dancing was more of a communal act. We danced the same steps together as a community, or couples danced a set of prescribed steps like in a waltz.
Expressive individualism is why we tend to emphasize individual rights over social responsibilities.
Someone who speaks in a formal and traditionally respectful way might be seen as inauthentic. This is why liturgical prayers often don’t sit well with people. We are praying someone else’s prayer, that doesn’t seem very “authentic”. I’m wearing vestments, wouldn’t it be more “authentic” if I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt?
We are swimming in this reality, though we rarely name it or notice it.
It isn’t all bad. We don’t necessarily want to be a completely different person inwardly from who we are when we are with others we know and trust. Attention to our inner life is important for us as Christians. We see the inner life spoken about in the Bible and by saints throughout the ages. The spirituality of the inner life has taught us to attend to our inner feelings for a very long time.
However, traditionally, we have also been taught the value of self-restraint, and self control, and to not be self-centered. Not all thoughts that arise within us were considered good. Dwelling on anger was warned against as it could lead to violence and murder. It’s not appropriate for me to scream and do violence to someone and then say that I was just expressing my inner self. … Likewise, lust was warned against as it could lead to adultery. … In a culture where I might be tempted to get things my way, St. Paul tells us
We have given this inner self incredible authority. It’s almost as if our subjective feelings matter more than objective reality. … We grant authority to how we feel in a way that previous generations didn’t. In ages past, the idea of who we are was more marked by things like family lineage, the land ancestors lived on, and social status in the hierarchy of society. A person was most themselves when they were fulfilling their societal roles and responsibilities. … In previous ages, the self was something that came to us from the outside, like our name. It was given to us.
Based on the assumptions of Expressive Individualism, a valuable life is one where we know who we are (by acknowledging our psychological inner feelings) and can express ourselves outwardly to society in a way that we are heard, respected, and accepted, which we believe will leave us feeling psychologically fulfilled. … If something stands in the way of me expressing my authentic self, then I feel myself to be oppressed because of the psychological discomfort I feel when that happens. These assumptions about the authentic true self and its place in society has an affect on almost all parts of our life. … It’s not necessarily a good or bad thing on its own. It’s just the lens our society uses to look at the world. It’s the water we are all swimming in.
I know this can be tricky to wrap your head around, so I’ll give a few examples of where we see this. … Expressive Individualism can be seen when someone evaluates a church service by how it made them feel. They might say that we sang their favourite hymns, which is to say that they were happy that they could express themselves in the way they wanted. But, we might be challenged by someone from another time or culture for whom their main focus isn’t Expressive Individualism. They might evaluate the church service by asking if God was worshipped in an accurate way. Or, if, as a result of worshipping, they were more shaped by the character of God. …
There are other examples. Modern dancing at a nightclub is a very individual expression. The dancefloor is full of individuals expressing themselves. A few hundred years ago dancing was more of a communal act. We danced the same steps together as a community, or couples danced a set of prescribed steps like in a waltz.
Expressive individualism is why we tend to emphasize individual rights over social responsibilities.
Someone who speaks in a formal and traditionally respectful way might be seen as inauthentic. This is why liturgical prayers often don’t sit well with people. We are praying someone else’s prayer, that doesn’t seem very “authentic”. I’m wearing vestments, wouldn’t it be more “authentic” if I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt?
We are swimming in this reality, though we rarely name it or notice it.
It isn’t all bad. We don’t necessarily want to be a completely different person inwardly from who we are when we are with others we know and trust. Attention to our inner life is important for us as Christians. We see the inner life spoken about in the Bible and by saints throughout the ages. The spirituality of the inner life has taught us to attend to our inner feelings for a very long time.
However, traditionally, we have also been taught the value of self-restraint, and self control, and to not be self-centered. Not all thoughts that arise within us were considered good. Dwelling on anger was warned against as it could lead to violence and murder. It’s not appropriate for me to scream and do violence to someone and then say that I was just expressing my inner self. … Likewise, lust was warned against as it could lead to adultery. … In a culture where I might be tempted to get things my way, St. Paul tells us
“I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think”.
We are warned against self-centeredness. … Discerning the thoughts and feelings arising from inside us has been a very important part of traditional spiritual life. From a traditional Christian point of view, the inner life is important, but it is to be brought before the authority of God, who is outside of the individual, to be corrected and shaped. It is through God that we evaluate the inner reality.
This is a really long way to get to what Paul is saying.
This is a really long way to get to what Paul is saying.
“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.”
… It doesn’t matter how long Simon looks at his inner feelings, he is not going to find “Peter” there. Jesus had to name Peter from the outside, and Peter learned to become Peter by following Jesus. Peter allowed Jesus to renew his mind by showing him how to live- how to think, how to feel, and how to act.
Bishop N.T. Wright once told a kind of parable. He said that if you splash a bucket of water on a big rock in your back yard once in a while, it isn’t going to change the shape of the rock. But, if you take that same rock and place it under a waterfall, it will start to be shaped. It’s like that with us. If we hope to be shaped by God, then it won’t work to splash us once in a while with prayer and Scripture. If we hope to be shaped by God, then we place ourselves under the waterfall of prayer and Scripture. We soak our hearts with a continuous mindfulness of God. We constantly align ourselves with God’s reality, calling out to Him for help.
This is what it means to present ourselves to God as a “living sacrifice”. When an animal is sacrificed, it’s life is offered to God. Its pre-sacrificed life is over. … To be a living sacrifice means to offer my life to God. So, I ask God how I should be at my work. I ask God how I should be as a parent. I ask God how I should be as a friend, and as a neighbour. I ask God how I should spend my spare time. I ask Jesus to teach me how to be a parent, and a husband, and a friend, and a neighbour, and as a member of this church. … When we do that, we offer our inner selves to God as a living sacrifice. My inner self no longer gets to determine my entire reality. It is offered to God and shaped by the way of Jesus. And that means I might not fit in perfectly with the world. My self is no longer conformed to the world, but is transformed as our minds are renewed by God. AMEN.
Bishop N.T. Wright once told a kind of parable. He said that if you splash a bucket of water on a big rock in your back yard once in a while, it isn’t going to change the shape of the rock. But, if you take that same rock and place it under a waterfall, it will start to be shaped. It’s like that with us. If we hope to be shaped by God, then it won’t work to splash us once in a while with prayer and Scripture. If we hope to be shaped by God, then we place ourselves under the waterfall of prayer and Scripture. We soak our hearts with a continuous mindfulness of God. We constantly align ourselves with God’s reality, calling out to Him for help.
This is what it means to present ourselves to God as a “living sacrifice”. When an animal is sacrificed, it’s life is offered to God. Its pre-sacrificed life is over. … To be a living sacrifice means to offer my life to God. So, I ask God how I should be at my work. I ask God how I should be as a parent. I ask God how I should be as a friend, and as a neighbour. I ask God how I should spend my spare time. I ask Jesus to teach me how to be a parent, and a husband, and a friend, and a neighbour, and as a member of this church. … When we do that, we offer our inner selves to God as a living sacrifice. My inner self no longer gets to determine my entire reality. It is offered to God and shaped by the way of Jesus. And that means I might not fit in perfectly with the world. My self is no longer conformed to the world, but is transformed as our minds are renewed by God. AMEN.
[1]
Carl Trueman, “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self”
[2] From
and interview with Carl Trueman- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtBHjg-3gRo
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