To Be or Not to Be, That is the Question: Don’t Be the wrong Form.

Halloween is a fun time for many. I’m not going to debate the holiday, only to use it as a jumping off point for our ‘BE NOT’ part of this series. Unless you are a toddler who does not understand what is going on, I’m pretty sure that all of us know that pudgy legged, inflated dinosaur walking down the sidewalk is not real. It is a costume. It has the shape of a T-rex, but we know there is a youngster inside looking for free sugary treats. There’s an interesting word used twice in the New Testament. It is the Greek word suschématizó. This word is found in Romans 12:2 and 1Peter 1:14. It is two words combined to make one concept. There is a prefix which means ‘along, along with, or together with’. It has is the idea of close association, – properly to identify with or be joined close-together in tight identification. The other part is the idea of an exterior shape or form; figuratively the outer shape, manner or appearance. It’s not the same thing as just putting on a costume to have a few moments of fun, this is taking on the nature of something or someone else, it is to conform. Romans 12:2 says DO NOT be conformed to this world (literally this age.) In other words, do not be just like everyone else who are NOT servants of CHRIST and NOT true children of GOD. Instead allow yourself to go through a metamorphosis, a transformation of mind. Peter commands us not to rejoin ourselves to our past ignorant passions. Instead, set ourselves apart from those old, foolish, and lustful ways. Both passages tell us that, in order to make sure we are not formed into the wrong spiritual shape; we have to change the direction of our gaze. Stop looking at this age of unrighteousness, envying that behavior and stop looking at how we used to be. Instead, focus on JESUS. Focus on what HE wants us to be like. When we do this, we represent the ‘FORM’, the ‘IMAGE’ of CHRIST to a lost world.

Russell Ashby