In our culture of constant change, it can be difficult to figure out what “normal” is! The dictionary definition is “that which conforms to an accepted standard.” Given that standards shift like the wind, “normal” is subject to change—so there will always be a “new normal.”
Last week at the Democratic Convention, a young man spoke about 'new' family values—he was raised by two mothers, lesbians. He was there to thank the Democratic Party for ‘normalizing’ gay families. Then the next day, coincidentally, I read about a new Fall TV sitcom, called “The New Normal,” that will feature two gay men raising a child they have by a surrogate.
In my lifetime I have seen a lot of “new normal’s.” I remember when black and white TVs and bow ties were normal. I remember when it was normal for grocery stores to be closed on Sundays. And more soberly, I remember when out-of-wedlock pregnancy was not normal and abortion was illegal.
Obviously, what used to be “normal” changed. But if “normal” is so subjective, why are so many believers trying to be “normal”? Rather than being defined by the world's shifting standards, shouldn't we be conforming to God's? Who knows? Our lives just might appear refreshingly and delightfully abnormal to all the normal people around us. Our standards could even become the "new normal!"
Is the church in America living up to its name? The word “church” comes from the Greek word ecclesia, meaning called out—called out from this world, i.e., culture. In using the word, Jesus defined His followers as nonconformists: “Be not conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2).
Many people think the Church growth movement and its step-child the Emerging Church are so intent on not wanting to seem peculiar to the world, they are in danger of falling into conformance with it. Recently one pastor explained, “We black out the windows of our auditorium and turn down the lights so un-churched people will feel less culture shock.”
But the Bible is full of non-conformists. From Enoch who walked with God against the tide of his times, to Abraham who left Ur for a nomadic life in the desert, to Moses who refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, to Daniel who rejected royal fare, and to the Disciples who died resisting Jewish tradition. When is the last time you heard a sermon on Paul’s command, “come out from among them, and be separate?” (2 Cor. 6:17). Is it time for a new generation of nonconformists?
I spent most of my young adult years as an alleged non-conformist. Ironically, I was just conforming to counter culture. None of us is immune to the influence of our society's customs and beliefs. In every age, a great threat to the people of God was conformity to the age they lived in!
In Paul’s well-known “Be not conformed to this world,” the word “conform” is the same word for “fashion” (Ro. 12:2). As everyone knows, fashions are fickle. If defined by “fashion,” people end up with nothing but insecurity, vanity, and a closet full of out-of-date clothes! But Paul was not talking of apparel. He was warning against fashioning one’s mind (values, beliefs, ethics) after the world’s ways of thinking, which are just as fleeting as yesterday’s garments. Is this not, in part, what John meant by “the things of this world are passing away” (1 John 2:16)?
A few years ago, I asked the Lord to show me how I was being affected, albeit unknowingly, by my culture—American movies, television, music, ideals, values, and morals. If you and I are not vigilant to watch how the world’s values and fashions are affecting us, we may reach the end of our journey on earth and realize we had been conformed to this world. We must watch and pray!
Jesus was not affected by the mores, traditions, or fashions of His day. Not because he was a non-conformist—but because He was not of this world.
