viewoutsidethepew

Peer pressure, social norm, cultural expectations, and sucking up to those we want to impress motivate people at every turn.

Photo Credit: crystalnicolec

It strikes me that Jesus didn’t really condemn politicians or soldiers. Poor people received compassion and a generous spirit. But the keepers of religious obligations became, and remained, the enemies of the Saviour and received harsh condemnation and became models of what to avoid doing.

We have human imposed conformity ingrained in us at every turn. Such a level of achievement falls far short of what God wants for us.

“Don’t conform to social standards expected of you, but be transformed by re-booting your brain everyday, for only with these fresh starts can you sort through and find the core of importance, the undiluted plan of God, which will guide you to awareness and actions that are truly good, which please the One who acts in and for love always, and that course of action is perfect.” (Romans 12:2, My paraphrase, but I believe the original Greek allows for this modernized expression.)

So, are you a radical disciple of the supreme model of spiritual thriving, or a routine devotee of the smallest mould of survival-obsessed thinking?