Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Paul asks us to be Christian nonconformists. That is trickier than we might realize. The world has many patterns and standards to which we might conform. Some are obvious, some more subtle. The world has a pattern of speech that gives full vent to its anger and lets the obscenities fly. I get angry and passionate about things, too. But my Lord tells me, “Do not let any unwholesome speech come out of your mouths.” “Do not repay insult with insult.” Even, “If you are insulted, you are blessed.” The world has a pattern for romantic relationships that suggests as long as two people consent, and they are using protection, things like marriage or gender don’t matter. Do what feels good. But my Lord has given me a pattern in which the marriage bed is to be kept pure, and it is for this reason that God made them male and female.

A little less obvious, the world has a pattern we might call, “More for me.” The house is never big enough. The car is never new enough. The closet is never full enough. The trips have never taken me far enough. The kids have not participated in enough. But my Lord’s pattern is, “If we have food and clothing, we will be content with this.” And, “Have something to share with those in need.”

Even more subtle, the world has a pattern that convinces me, “The smarter, the better.” The greater a person’s intelligence, the more they know, the greater their worth. My Lord even tells me that he gives knowledge and wisdom as a gift. But he also warns that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. And his truths often remain hidden to the wise and learned while little children are able to understand them perfectly.

We could keep building the list, laying out the competing patterns. This conformity is hard to resist. The world bullies, tempts, lures, deceives, eases, and scares until it has shaped us just the way it wants.

To remain nonconforming Paul says we need to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Notice this is less about being educated. It is not enough to be given a to-do list. It is more about being changed, becoming different people, getting a mind that thinks and works a different way. If we were talking about a diet, I don’t just need a list of foods I shouldn’t eat. I need change of tastes that finds those foods repulsive. To remain nonconforming to this world I need my Lord to give me a new heart and a new mind that no longer wants the pattern the world offers.

That, again, is where “in view of God’s mercy” comes in. God’s love changes me. My wife has told me she loves me. She has showed me she loves me. And over time that has made me quite a different person. It has shaped my habits. I used to leave the Sunday paper scattered over the living room on Sunday afternoon. She let me know early on she found this annoying. It didn’t change right away. Today I gather it up and put it away when I’m done (most of the time), not just because it’s a thing I’m supposed to do. It’s a thing I want to do, for her.

God’s mercy does something similar for us. When Jesus’ love at the cross is in view; when we see him dying for our sins; when we hear him forgiving our sins; when he trades us his righteousness for our selfishness; when he makes eternal life and heaven our own; when he presents it all to us as his gift and gives it all away for free; then the Christian life isn’t just a list of demands I’m supposed to do. It’s a life I want to do, for him. With his mercy in view, his love transforms us so that our lives no longer conform to the world in which we live.