The other day a news
report stated that people have been shown to be desensitized to the reality
shows on television. As each individual
or "team" tries to outdo their opponents to "win" the
prize, they use whatever means necessary to best the others. Sometimes that even takes the form of
dishonest dealings with each other, deception, lying or cutting corners in
order to win. That report showed that
people who watch those reality programs often have become desensitized to the
bickering and the arguing and other things that are happening in those programs
and it has become the new normal.
Without even realizing it, the people watching the "reality" shows
actually begin to adopt the methods and outcomes they have seen on those shows
into their personal lives.
It is not surprising that
Christians often times get caught up in these programs as well. People who watch often identify with a
favorite person or team and become emotionally involved by rooting for them to
perform better so they can win over the others.
We read in Romans 12 that we should not be conformed to the world order
of things; instead, we should be transformed into the likeness of Christ.
"Therefore I exhort
you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a
sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God – which is your reasonable
service. Do not be conformed to this present world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve
what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2)
The word "conformed"
in verse 2 in the original language (suschmatizesqe) can be either a passive or
middle voice, but is likely passive since it did not directly indicate specific
persons, ("conform yourselves").
Viewing the process of being conformed as a passive notion implies it is
a process that may be in part, subconscious.
However, it also carries the implication of a "permissive
passive" that suggests it is not entirely subconscious, but at the same
time a realization of some consciousness from the individual that the
conformity is taking place as the person engages in the act of doing or
watching. So it can be taken as a
combination of both ideas
The words in the
text "test and approve" is a verb (dokimazw) that indicates we should
test what we are seeing or doing and look for the positive outcome, especially
as related to what is pleasing to God.
Not only are we to "test" what we watch or do, but we should
"approve" of it with the same mind as God would likely use to
"approve" of the specific behavior.
So we are to "test so as to approve."
A
social psychologist named, Charles Cooley defined what he called the
"Looking glass self" he first used in a book entitled, "Human
Nature and the Social Order," 1902.
He described consistent observations of persons acting or behaving in
ways they thought others' had perceived them.
The person's "self" was formed and developed through
interpersonal relationships and from the perceptions of others. His "looking glass self" was the
formation of a personal conforming to what persons thought others' were
thinking about them. People are so
willing to have others' thinking good things about them, they will change their
behavior to please their friends thereby "conforming" to the
expectations of those whom they value.
Think
of a group of teen-agers who see the "stars" setting the trends. A recent example is the behavior of Miley
Cyrus who developed a character of "Hanna Montana" but has more
recently tried to transform herself into seemingly an adult soft-porn
star. Her more wholesome persona as
Hanna were copied by millions of young girls who wanted to be just like
her. The process of
"conforming" usually happens when most of a young girl's friends try
to emulate the behavior of the stars, but the girl who resists is brought into
conformity by the interpersonal relationships experienced by the person perception
of what the other girls think about her when she doesn't morph into another
"Hanna."
Of course Cooley may have
identified this phenomenon through observation and labeling the "looking
glass self," but the Apostle Paul recognized it almost two thousand years
ago noting that as we interact with others forming interpersonal relationships
and watching the world go by, we are always in danger of conforming our
"self" with those around us as we try to please them and keep them as
our friend.
Paul, having recognized
that phenomenon wrote that Christians, with the help of the power of the Holy
Spirit, should "transform" their "selves" and
"renew" their minds by testing those things around us happening in
the world, and approve their "self-concept" with consistency to God's
will. This results in living a life that
is "good, well-pleasing and perfect."
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