Molded
Last week someone posted a video of how Legos are made. I got sucked in somehow and now I feel like I'm an expert on injection molding. No, not really, but it certainly was interesting to watch. The molding process can create any shape imaginable, all it takes is the appropriate mold. The mold determines the shape of the plastic.
Life in this world is a similar experience. We are often seemingly unaware of how the surrounding culture forms the mold that forms our lives. This world leaves its impression on our thinking, our morality, our values, and even our behavior. That's why the Bible warns us in Romans 12:2: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." In other words, don't let this world press you into its mold.
This warning is easier said than done. How can you live in a culture without being deeply influenced by that culture? How can you be surrounded by values, ideas, and beliefs that you reject while continuing to hold your convictions? It seems like it would be just as easy to do this as it would be to jump in the ocean and not get wet. The most natural response in the world is for people to conform to their culture. In his book, The Courage to be Protestant, David Wells points this out: "When diverse, even contradictory, ways of thinking, being, and behaving come together in close proximity with one another relativism is the almost inevitable outcome. Worldviews and beliefs all get softened." As a whole, American Christianity in 2023 looks far more like America 2023 than it does anything else. What's the solution to this?
Romans 12 gives us the remedy. "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The way to live a culture without conforming to it is to have our lives so immersed in Scripture, pressed into the mold of Christ. Refuse to accept unbiblical categories and ways of thinking. Refuse unbiblical premises and values. Refuse to compromise one inch on the truth of God's Word. Insist on using biblical categories and terms. The Bible uses the vocabulary of sin and we should, too. Sin is still sin no matter how loudly and proudly a culture denies it.
If you make this stand, the culture will not approve. You may not be liked. You may be scorned. But remember who you follow. Jesus didn't exactly win a popularity contest.
Don't let a progressively regressing culture move you to despair or anger. Let it strengthen your resolve to know God and His Word. Let it strengthen your passion to stand for Christ. And let it strengthen your commitment to take the hope of Christ to the world!