Kimi Harris, nonconformist

"And do not be conformed to this world..." Romans 12:2a

Have you ever thought about why we are so easily conformed to this world? Why is it that we are always, as a whole, just one step behind the secular world in values, ideas and lifestyles? You know what I mean. When feminists brought their me-centered, God slamming ideas to the market of thought, Christians followed along simply at a slower rate than the rest of the world. When Darwin wrote "Origin of the Species" defying God as Creator, the Christian world was at first shocked and horrified. But now many "Christians" truly believe that they can mix "science" and the Word of God and have the best of both worlds. Fifty years ago homosexuality would hardly be spoken of, even in the secular world. Now it is gaining acceptance in many Christian denominations. Folks, we are just one step behind. But, you may be saying "Look, I hardly believe in feminism or evolution. It is an unfortunate downfall of other Christians. But I am not one of those kinds." I used to believe that about myself. But I have found that I have been unduly influenced by my world. Sure, I have managed to disagree on the wide side of issues, but I found that in small (but significant) ways my thoughts are very worldly. I would like to propose that many of you are in the same boat. The very scary thought about this all, is how completely blind we can be to how "wordly" our thought process is. I firmly believe that only by the grace of God can we examine our hearts and minds and know where we are wrong. But if we seek wisdom from Him, He is sure to give it. (James 1) And He has faithfully revealed to me many areas in my life where I was not seeing things with a Biblical perspective. Later on I will address issues which I feel are often viewed through the lens of a secular worldview instead of a Christian one. But for now I would like to propose three reasons why we are so affected by our world.

Lack of dependence on the Bible
This is the biggest and most serious problem we have. We don't depend on the Bible enough. We depend on our experience, the world's voice and other sources to shape how we think. If we would depend solely on the Bible for our worldview, I think a lot of us would see a consistent change in how we view life.

Listening to the world's ideas without seriously attempting to refute them in our minds
We can't help but hear unbiblical ideas all the time. However, if we are laid back in attempting to discover the Biblical counterargument to these ideas, we will start to be unduly effected by them. If you can't argue with or see what's wrong in an idea then you will start to believe it's true.

An overabundant bombardment of secular ideas
If we allow ourselves to be continually surrounded by ideas and views that are decidedly non-Christian, guess what? Those ideas will permeate our minds until we start to think in their terms instead of God's.

So what does it take to be a nonconformist in a world that wants you on their side?

The first, most important step is to take the Word of God seriously. If you hardly read and study it, it will hardly effect you. Do you daily seek God through reading Scripture, meditation on His Word and prayer? The world is telling you its thoughts everyday, but are you refuting that with Scripture everyday? It's hard to have a Biblical worldview when you don't even know what the Bible says. Make your devotions a priority in your life.
Secondly, don't be passive by accepting what you hear without scrutinizing it against the Bible. Be an aggressive truth seeker.
Thirdly, look at your life and ask, "Do I have an overabundance of secular ideas bombarding me?" Evaluate the books you read, the internet sites you visit, the shows you watch, the friends you hang out with. I am not saying that you have to isolate yourself from everything and everyone. But I do think that we need to evaluate the amount of time we allow ourselves with these influences. Do we really think that if we constantly surround ourselves with secularism that our five minute devotion time (done when we were half asleep) is really going to refute the hours and hours of other influences? No, it's not a matter of isolation. It's a matter of bringing balance to our lives.
So how do we bring more godly influence into our lives? As you remove ungodly influences, how do you fill your time? Here are some suggestions I have found helpful for myself.

• Listen to sermons using podcast technology ( I like HOFCC, Covenant Life Church, John Piper, Nancy Leigh DeMoss) while driving, doing chores or any activity that leaves your mind free.

• Read Great Books. Choose your books wisely. I enjoy reading historical books because they teach me so much about life, biographies of Christian men and women, and fictional books written from a Christian perspective (such as C. S. Lewis and Randy Alcorn). Don't use books just to entertain, but use them as learning tools. You can also listen to books on tape or CD.

• Seek like minded friends who also have a desire to throw off worldly ideas and take on a more Christian perspective.

Most of all, remember that seeking God is not drudgery, but a great gift of joy! Remember the parable that Jesus told about the man who found a treasure in a field? (Matthew 13) He sold and gave up all else so that he could buy the field that contained greater wealth. When we give up the world's ideas, the world's wisdom and the world's applause so that we can obtain God's ideas, God's wisdom and God's approval, we are giving up comparative trash to receive diamonds. Let's not be trash dwellers, but treasure seekers.

posted by Kimi Harris @ 9:46 AM