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Recovering from Our Insanity

by William Ryzek  
4/26/2009 / Christian Living

Christians generally agree (although we might disagree about the details) that two kinds of realities exist. The first is called kosmos and refers to the material universe and, at the same time, to all that which is under the dominion of sin and death because of humanities rebellion against God. The other is ouranos, or heaven, and refers to, among other things, light and life and to all that which is under the dominion of God’s rule and will.

Now, we also generally agree that these two realities are at odds with one another; that they are, in fact, at war. The front lines of this conflict between good and evil, the kingdom’s of heaven and hell, is our personal life along with our neighborhood, our local school, our government, our culture and our religion and the intensity of this war upon all Christians is increasing. It is so intense that the ranks of those claiming allegiance to God are becoming divided. Christians holding fast to the traditions which they have received (represented by the Apostolic and Nicene creeds, for example) are often considered by their post-modern ‘brethren’ as a roadblock to social, political and religious reforms that, so they argue, any rational and compassionate person should readily embrace. This version of Christianity declares there is no such thing as absolute truth, that old traditions must yield to post-modern progress that morality is a matter of personal choice and preference, that one religion is as true as another, and that Jesus was not the Son of God nor did He arise bodily from the grave and so on.

But while this battle rages, we have our personal battles going on as well. Because we are both material and spiritual beings we are in the world and can feel its influences while, at the same time, not of the world because we are citizens of heaven. We are often at war with ourselves in a battle fought in our minds over what we will or will not do in response to the overtures of heaven and the temptations of hell. The enemies of God are continually pressuring His people to be conformed to their values, morals and ambitions instead of being transformed into the image of His Son. Paul spoke in his letter to the Romans in one of his many do not do/do formulas; i.e. do not be conformed to the world, do be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

The words ‘conform’ and ‘transform’ are important. They both have as their root the term “form”. Now, to form something is to change it in order to fit a certain pattern or serve a certain purpose that it might not otherwise be inclined or capable. So, for example, “…the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground…” (Gen. 2:7) Dust and earth by themselves cannot become a person but in the hands of the Creator they can be patterned after His image and given the purpose of serving Him. A more mundane example is concrete. By itself, it is merely a viscous substance without pattern or purpose. When it is placed in a form, it can become a wall or a floor and serve the purposes of a builder.

With these ideas in mind, think about the word conform. When used to describe change in people’s lives it usually means they are submitting to a pattern of common expectations or set of ideals and, therefore, “fitting in’. If we conform to a particular group, then we blend into the larger whole by going along with whatever the majority deems necessary or beneficial in spite of what we might otherwise desire. It has a wider social application and is often associated with ‘peer pressure’. In other words, I might change my opinions and mannerisms in order to ‘be like’ others in the same group and win their acceptance but still secretly retain my own agendas. I change but only outwardly; my inner condition remains the same.

For a Christian to conform to the world, then, is to follow its moral, political and cultural ideals, to ‘fit in’ to a pattern that is, at least at the time, the accepted norm. One word often used to describe this is ‘fashion’ and one has to think only of how things go in and out of fashion, from clothes to morals, to understand its meaning. To fashion ourselves after the world, then, is to embrace the temporary and reject the eternal; it is to think as the world thinks and into step with what is described in 2 Tim 3:1-17. In short, it is a preoccupation with all things transitory (money, power, possessions) and ignoring that which is incorruptible.

Reformation, on the other hand, is the correction of inappropriate behavior by the imposition of an alternative set of ideals or purposes that lead to a different behavior. Note the structure of the word reform. It suggests a rearranging of what is already there into something different. But because the components are the same, the overall essence of what is reformed remains the same. So, alcoholics are reformed when they stop drinking and pursue a responsible life-style but all the while they remain alcoholics. They stop doing but not necessarily desiring what is destructive to their lives. They change, but, then, not really.

The only counter to this constant and incessant pressure to conform and reform is to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds”. Unlike the term conform which suggests an outward molding of a life according to a definite pattern (in this case, a pattern of rebellion against God) transformation suggests inward changes that, by proceeding outward, produce real change in our actions and attitudes. It is the actual altering of our being, the core of existence into something wholly new and unprecedented and quite impossible apart from direct divine involvement. In fact, it is nothing short of an infusion of the Divine into our souls.

It is an unfortunate fact that conformation and reformation are often confused with transformation and considered as synonyms. That is, social pressures, including religious ones, compel people to adopt certain obvious and mostly external characteristics that supposedly reflect the ideals of their religion. So, for example, smoking cigarettes might be considered contrary to ideas off holiness; a smoker in such a group is pressured to quit, to give up the external act that is offensive. Now, the smoker may indeed give up the habit, but that in itself is not holiness; it is merely ‘fitting in” to a social group and meeting their expectations of conduct. They are reforming and conforming at the same time but the real issue of transformation is forgotten because the immediate cause of offense is no longer visible. The person’s appearance now looks acceptable and mirrors the appearance of others in the group; all is well.

Frankly, judging by the decisions we make and the relationships we seek out, we are not in our right minds most of the time. I sometimes imagine that those benevolent angelic beings given charge over us must think us quite insane when we act as if the natural world is more real and important than the spiritual. We need healing from this delusional behavior because what we think and how we think determine our actions. In short, the aberrant insanity of the “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16) that motivates the world, and many Christians for that matter, must be replaced by the sanity of mind that only desires to “do the will of God” (1 John 2:17). And, according to Rom 12:2, it is only a transformed mind that is able to “discern” what God’s will is and, once determined, then actually do it.

And one fundamentally important thing a clear mind will show us is the real difference between kosmos and ouranos, that this world is under the dominion of principalities and powers bent on destroying all God has made and no compromise with it is acceptable. It will reveal just how deeply seated sin is in our lives and how opposed we really are to the things of God. It will reveal that most of what we think is valuable and important in this life will soon forever pass away and only “treasure in heaven” will remain. It will reveal that at the end of days all of creation will undergo a final transformation and only what God’s Spirit touches will remain, unmoved, eternal and permanent.

William Ryzek, PhD has been both a pastor and academic for several years. He has published articles in various magazines and newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected]

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