Culture – challenge – change -
conform
One of the
things that I ask audiences who say that they are Christians is, if you are one
have you changed and what methodology do you think, you or God uses to change
you.
I get lots
of answers usually things like:
- · The Bible
- · Prayer
- · The Holy Spirit
- · Meeting with other Christians
- · Love
- · And others sometime a bit more obscure
Of course
all of those things have a bearing on change, if change is necessary, however
that is not actually how we change. In fact the funny thing is that the Bible
does tell us what the method of change is, and more than that it tells us how
to maintain and continue with the relevant and vital changes that are needed to
become a new kind of person. The Book of Romans starts us off...12:2 Don't
be conformed to this world (allow the world to squeeze you into its mould), but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what
is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Thinking is what changes us, what we think. So often we don’t, think that is. When I was a teenager I used to hang out in
what was euphemistically called coffee bars, the place where young people could
legitimately go. You went there before you went out, and came back there after
you had been out, if you see what I mean.
It was the place you met your date before you went on the date… Bit more
like a house front room with frothy coffee and the very required juke box.
One of the things I noticed is, and that hasn't
changed much in 50 years is that the music had to be very, very loud. In fact
so loud that you couldn't think, I asked a few of my friends back then why they
like the music so loud? Most of them answered the same, well they said “It
saves me from having to think”!
The trouble is there are many times that we think we
are thinking but we are not; rather I would say we are conforming. We conform to
our culture our peers, those we feel we need to impress, be the same as, want
them to like us, feel part of the crowd, and be accepted. All of those things going on inside of us but
often without much thought.
I have been to a lot of parties of late, most of which
I have to say not my age group, but even when occasionally it was my age group
I note the attempt to conform to the group is very strong. Our cultures,
that we don’t think about puts us into a box where we act, do, be, just like
everyone else but without much thinking.
Let’s be honest it’s hard to change culture, not that we shouldn't try particularly when culture
has it wrong, which often it has. When
you change your thinking you can change your behavior, but changing others
thinking is not that easy, even if your thinking is right and their’s is wrong. Think about Ignaz Semmelweiss, don’t know
him, well in 1847 he discovered that if doctors washed their hands before
attending women in childbirth it dramatically reduced deaths from puerperal
fever. His views were ridiculed and
eventually drove him insane – not that he was wrong but it took some 15 years
for Pasteur and Lister to develop their germ theory of disease which explained
why Semmelweiss was right.
Going back to those parties, why is it that we have to
have so much Alcohol, so much ‘same’ music, so much ‘same dress style’ so much
conformity. Are we thinking or just
culturally conforming, and if we are just peer pressure conforming, are we
right to do so? Are we that different to my coffee bar era, ‘well it saves me
from having to think?’
To quote Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in ‘The
Spirit level’ they said, It is a
remarkable paradox that, at the pinnacle of human material and technical
achievement, we find ourselves anxiety-ridden, prone to depression, worried
about how others see us, unsure of our
friendships, driven to consume and with little or no community life. Lacking the relaxed social contact and
emotional satisfaction we all need we seek comfort in over-eating, obsessive
shopping and spending, or becoming prey to excessive alcohol, psychoactive
medicines and illegal drugs.
So why am I going on.
Well because I want to provoke you to THINK! Think what about?
Well:
- · Why are you here in this world?
- · What is it that needs changing?
- · What is it that you could do to effect change?
- · Why are you just being one of the crowd?
- · Where are you going anyway?
- · When are you going to do something constructive?
Sometime the problem starts by what you think about
yourself, again to quote the Bible it says in Proverbs 23:7 Paraphrasing “as
you think in your heart so you are” So
what do you think about you, are you insecure, unsure, do you think of yourself
as not so good. Well to start with that
would need to change if you are to tackle the thinking above. And of course it can and should change.
What should you be doing? Shouldn't you be the person to change things,
by first of all changing your own thinking?
Why be a ‘samee’ why not be a change agent? You could be a world
changer, but first you probably have to change, personally I do that by firstly
becoming a follower of Jesus, then trying hard to ‘not conform’ and putting on
the mind of Christ, thinking about good things rather than bad, in fact seeking
to renew my mind. Not got there yet, but
trying and on the way.
How about you, wouldn't you rather be here to change
things rather than just be one of the crowd?
Think about it! There’s a
challenge!
Adrian’s Blog
Edited by
Technicolour Text
W 1009
310712
