Transformed or Conformed?

By: Minister Carmena Cox, SAVED News Guest Editorialist — With the wake of everything that is going on in our country recently, the issue of Conformity for the Christian community ( corporately and individually) is of great importance .Definitely worth exploring considering the spiritual warfare that we will have to encounter in the last days.
First of all let’s lay a Biblical foundation on this subject of conforming to the world. According to Romans 12:1, 2 the church indeed was admonished to be transformed rather than be conformed to this world. In addition to that we find elsewhere in the scriptures accounts of Paul admonishing the church of Corinth regarding conformity. In one instance he tells them to come out from among them and be separate (2 Corinthians 6:17) and in another situation he lets them know that evil company corrupts good habits (1 Corinthians 15:33). Furthermore we also learn by the WORD of God that we are in the world but not of the world (John 17:16).
We know that the Word of God is the basis for our beliefs and we should begin to know, understand and do the word. Also we see that we should absolutely not conform to this world according to Scripture. Nothing in this world should cause us to conform; but rather let the WORD transform you.
I ask you to take note of the tense of the word transformed in the scripture. The Bible uses transformed in past tense as if it has already happened and taken place. The usage of this verb denotes a permanent position or something that does not fluctuate. However; conformity, which is the polar opposite of being transformed, puts me in the mind what began as a childhood cartoon and is now a series of motion pictures; The “Transformers”. This show depicted robots that could transform into a variety of things; whether it be a car, truck, helicopters, or dinosaur. These transformers changed in and out of their characters depending on the situation. These “Transformers” look like one thing from 1st appearance, but in actuality they are something else. This type of switching back and forth resembles conformity. This type of behavior causes you to switch in and out of character depending on the situation. In a sense adapting to the world and the things around you and for the born again, sold out ,spirit filled, and spirit-led believer; this is not acceptable. We do not conform to the world or any ungodliness that is presented in our midst. Meaning we are to maintain our standard for Christ whether we are at church, home, work, play and so on. The bottom line is simply: be transformed and not conformed to this world