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I listened to a sermon by Tim Keller this morning. Before I get into what Keller said, though, allow me to share the verse I was meditating on before I listened to Keller. The verse is:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 ESV

As I meditated on this verse this morning, I was first struck by the command, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” This is something Paul was telling the Romans to do.

As I went on in my meditation, I began to realize that the patterns of this world and the renewal of our minds are influenced by agents “outside” of us. We either allow ourselves to be conformed to the patterns of this world, or we allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. The patterns of this world and/or the renewal of our minds by God’s Spirit are influences on us that we can reject or embrace.

We have a choice to make, but the choice is in the allowing, in the submitting either to the patterns of this world or to the renewing of our minds by the Holy Spirit. It is something that happens to us that we can choose to participate in (or not).

The HELPS Word study (on biblehub.com) for the Greek word, sysxēmatízō, explains that “be conformed to the patterns of the world” means to be identified with those patterns and to assume a similar outward expression by following the same patterns. This conformance may happen consciously or unconsciously.

Paul is urging us to be conscious, to be mindful and intentional, in resisting conformance to the patterns of the world and to submit ourselves to the renewal (the transformation (metamorphóō)) of our minds by the influence of God’s Holy Spirit.,

The Greek word translated as “renewal” means literally metá “change after being with” and morphóō “changing form in keeping with inner reality”. The transformation Paul means is a metamorphosis. Like the caterpillar that changes into a butterfly, this is something that happens to us (within us), but only if we submit to it – only if we do not resist it and we allow it to happen.

We will be influenced one way or the other. We will conform to the patterns of this world unless we resist them. We will not be transformed by the renewal of our minds unless we choose to submit ourselves to God’s renewal process that is the work of the Holy Spirit.

My first thoughts focused on the fact that this is something that we do or do not do. We are acted on by outside agents either way. Yes, we participate in our own condition, but our participation is merely a matter of what we choose to respond to and yield ourselves to.

I am reminded of the words of Jesus that broad is the way and wide is the path that leads to destruction. Narrow is the way that leads to life. The patterns of this world are the broad way and the wide path. The broad way is the easy way. The broad way is where the current of this world will take us – if we let it.

The narrow path is what we choose when we submit ourselves to God and allow him to renew our minds – which is contrary to the way of the world. If we are not being intentional about our submission to God, we are likely being carried along the broad path by the strong currents of this world.

Paul also tells us that the purpose of this exercise of allowing the renewal of our minds is so that we, by testing, can discern the will of God. The purpose transformation by the renewal of our minds is to get to know God and understand Him, to spend time with Him and identify with Him. If we do that, then we will be changed (renewed). As we are changed in this process, we begin to discern His will.

Another way of looking at this is to recognize that the patterns of this world impose themselves on us from the outside in. Those patterns will influence us, and mold us, and conform us to its mold. This molding happens even if we are not aware of it – even if we do not actively participate in it.

The renewal of our minds takes place within us. The agency that causes that renewal, though, comes from “outside” or “beyond” us, but it happens “in” us. That agency is God working through his Holy Spirit as we yield ourselves to His influence.

The renewal of our minds is not automatic. We must participate in the process and allow the Spirit of God to have His way in us.

It also occurs to me that there are no other choices. We will either be conformed to the patterns of this world, or we will be transformed by the renewal of our minds – by the work of the Holy Spirit within us.

I am also struck that the patterns of this world are not necessarily singular. In fact, they often appear to us as opposites, but they are often two sides of the same coin. We gravitate toward one side or the other, but the renewal of our minds is transcendent.

If we have not submitted ourselves to God, the patterns of this world will conform us to those patterns. They will direct us one way or another, often to one of two opposite poles, in the direction to which we naturally bend. We have to take a stand: we have to choose not to be conformed to the patterns of this world.

How do we do this? We need to make a conscious choice. We need to spend time with God in prayer. We need to read God’s Word on a regular (daily) basis. We need to marinade in it, meditate on it, be absorbed with it. We need to spend time in fellowship with other believers in community. We need to spend time in the Body of Christ.

Paul says, “Bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Cor. 15:33) The people we hang with on a regular basis influence us, mold us, and conform us. We can’t (and shouldn’t) avoid all contact with “the world”, but we should be conscious in choosing to spend more time with fellow believers: to “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thess. 5:11); “not neglecting to meet together, but encouraging one another” (Heb. 10:25); and doing this regularly and often. (Heb. 3:13)

After I wrote some notes down for writing this article, I listened to the beginning of the Tim Keller sermon. Tim Keller referenced an interview with Holly Hunter in which she was asked whether she believed in God. She said she does not know who God is, but she said she is “spiritual”. She said she believes in a higher energy that she called a “collective unconsciousness”.

Keller observed that this kind of spirituality is just a projection of ourselves. In the context of the verse I have been meditating on, it is a projection of the patterns of this world as they have molded us. Hunter, like many modern people, seeks spirituality in conforming to the patterns of the world around her – the collective consciousness.

Keller says that real spirituality is not in seeking to blend into the patterns of the world, but in responding to God. Just as we are influenced by the patterns of this world pressing upon us, God is there to impress Himself upon us – but only if we let Him.

Unlike the patterns of this world, God is a true Gentleman: He offers Himself, but we have to engage Him. He does not force Himself on us uninvited or against our will. Love does not coerce. Love is patient and kind. (1 Corinthians 13:4) God is love. (1 John 4:16)

Ultimately, God invites you to get to know Him. As you get to know Him, the way your heart works and the way your mind thinks will be renewed and transformed.

This will take time; it is a process. There will be testing and trial and error. We don’t just change without putting the transformation and renewal to the test. If you stick with God, though, He will prove Himself true to you, and you will be transformed, changed from the inside out, as the Holy Spirit works within you.