Nudgings: Trying to hear what God has to say

I have been thinking lately…

I am something of a rebel. I don't like to do things they way everyone else does them. I like songs about rebellion in one form or another. I am an enemy of conformity.

This has often left me in awkward positions. As a pastor and in my personal life I run across people who define their faith in conformist terms. These terms usually come from the holiness rulebook of Christianity. They require a certain mindset, a universal belief system, and common practices. Being a Christian means that we take up these commonalities and live in them, even when they don't jive with the Christ we encounter on a regular basis. A whole world has sprung up on this premise. There are Christian businesses, Christian music, Christian books, Christian schools, Christian movies, Christian action figures, etc which exist to feed this idea. Sometimes it feels as if being part of these things makes us more Christian. Poppycock (see, a rebel).

I decided to search the Bible and do some research into conformity. Here is a definition

Conform. This word in Rom. 12:2 is the translation of sunschematizō (συνσχεματιζω) which means "to assume an outward expression that is patterned after something else, which outward expression does not come from within and is not representative of one's inward nature, but which is assumed from without."

The word "conformed" in Rom. 8:29 is from sunmorphoomai (συνμορφοομαι) which means "to bring to the same outward expression as something else, that outward expression proceeding from and being truly representative of one's true inward nature." Paul's desire was that he would be brought to the place where he would become, both as to his inner heart life and also as to the outward expression of the same, like his Lord in His life of death to self and service to other.

-Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997, c1984), Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: p.52-53.

Conformity is also used in 1 Peter 1:14 and Phil. 3:10.

It seems that the scripture tells us not to take on outward expressions of worldly systems that stand against our inner nature. Scripture also calls us to allow the new heart that God gives us to be expressed outwardly. We become like Christ while remaining the unique individuals that God created us to be. We are transformed in our hearts and souls rather than conformed to a system.

How different is Christian culture from the "world"? Could it be another system? What if my inward nature that God is creating in me is rebelling against Christian culture? Could this be what Rom. 12:2 is talking about?

I have found that Christian culture is an easy target when you speak of it in general terms, but a sacred cow when it gets personal. Question a personal belief or direct elements of the system and you get a lot of feedback, most of it negative. I am tired of being judged when I admit that I don't listen to a ton of Christian music or that I don't enjoy most Christian movies. I find some value in things that don't come with the Christian brand. A song got me thinking about this recently. It is a (non-Christian) song by Sum 41 titled "Fat Lip". Here is the lyric that started me thinking.

I don't wanna waste my time

Become another casualty of society

I'll never fall in line

Become another victim of your conformity

And back down

The song is escapist and I think the rest of the lyrics are rather ridiculous (even offensive). Yet the chorus caught my attention. I conform too much to things that do not match my inner being. I am tired of the Christian label. Is it possible to speak of God without the Christian worldly system hindering the way? Is there more to Christianity than a label?

I don't want to back down anymore. Conformity is an enemy of vision, passion, and joy. My desire is to be what God has created me to be. I cannot sacrifice that to please that which is labeled "Christian". God is larger and more powerful than any label or system we try to put Him into.

P.S. I am not throwing the baby out with the bathwater here. There is a lot of good stuff inside of Christian culture. There is also a lot of junk (just like secular culture maybe?). I am just tired of being pressured to conform to the restrictive label.