Do not be conformed to this world

1
Do not be conformed to this world

• Opening Plenary
• Association of Presbyterian Church Educators
  Annual Event

2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your minds, so
that you may discern what is the will of Godwhat
is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 122
3
Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your minds, so
that you may discern what is the will of Godwhat
is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 122
4

• This is the reason that I have often been
  hindered from coming to you. But now, with no
  further place for me in these regions, I desire,
  as I have for many years, to come to you when I
  go to Spain. For I do hope to see you on my
  journey and to be sent on by you, once I have
  enjoyed your company for a little while.
• Romans 1522-23

5
One dominant troubling popular philosophy for
Paul

• Gnosticism (from the Greek, gnosis or
  knowledge.). Created a false dualism between
  the material world which was viewed as evil and
  the spiritual world which was viewed as good.
  The task of the Christian was not merely to
  worship God but to free oneself as Christ did
  from earthly trappings. Knowledge comes from
  within.

6
Pauls key message in Romans

• For I am not ashamed of the gospel it is the
  power of God for salvation to everyone who has
  faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
  through faith for faith as it is written, The
  one who is righteous will live by faith.
• Romans 116-17
• Justification being made righteous by God
  through faith.

7
Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your minds, so
that you may discern what is the will of Godwhat
is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 122
8

• No task is more important than for the Church to
  take the Bible out of the hands of individual
  Christians in North America. North American
  Christians are trained to believe that they are
  capable of reading the Bible without spiritual
  and moral transformation. They read the Bible
  not as Christians, not as a people set apart, but
  as democratic citizens who think their common
  sense is sufficient for the understanding of
  scripture.
• Stanley Hauerwas. Unleashing Scripture.
  Nashville Abingdon, 1993.

9

• We are among the most educated in our respective
  nations. According to journalist David Brooks,
  the better educated
• Are significantly wealthier and divorce less.
• Have fewer children and fewer children out of
  wedlock.
• Are less likely to be obese or smoke.
• Live longer and are more optimistic.
• Express more social trust and are safer in public
  places.
• Have better health care, more friends and greater
  aspirations.
• Speak a dialect of self-fulfillment.
• Are the executives and administrators.
• Source New York Times, February 12, 2008

10
We Christian Reformed, Reformed Church,
Presbyterian (USA), Moravian, and
Presbyterian Canadianswe are the world to
which Paul warns not to conform.
11

• Jesus Christ was a marginal person.
• Conceived by an unwed woman.
• Born far from his hometown.
• Sheltered in a manger.
• Visited first by shepherds and by illegal aliens
  (magi who were gentiles).
• Refugee in Egypt.
• Jew in a land occupied by a foreign power.
• Dismissed and opposed by the leaders of his own
  religious tradition.
• Spent his public ministry wandering from town to
  town associating with marginal persons.
• Tried, convicted, and crucified as a criminal.

12

• If Jesus Christ is the self-emptying God who
  lived as a marginal person, we who follow Jesus
  Christ are called to be marginal people as well.
  We are not equal with Jesus Christ but through
  the Holy Spirit, we are joined with him on the
  margins. As the followers of Christ, we are
  called to be marginal people.
• Jung Young Lee. Marginality. Minneapolis
  Augsburg Fortress, 1995.

13
(No Transcript)
14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)
20

• Your love for our family has helped to provide
  the healing we so desperately need. Gifts youve
  given have touched our hearts in ways no words
  can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond
  our family, beyond our community, and is changing
  our world, and for this we sincerely thank you.
  Marie Roberts, widow of Charles Carl Roberts.

21

• But God Says.Do not be conformed to this
  worldTake your place on the margins and
  encounter Christ there.