With Heart and Mind
Romans 12:1-2
What would be the proper response to the discovery that God, the Creator against Whom the crown of his creation—humankind—had rebelled, the Holy One who had declared that all such rebels should endure eternal death, the Righteous Judge who had the perfect right to rain wrath down on the rebels, had provided the Way by which these same rebels could escape the death sentence, an escape that called for God himself to endure the punishment they deserved? And, what would be the proper response to the further discovery that these same rebels could participate in this escape by simply trusting God’s promise to treat them as if they had never rebelled?
Paul begins to answer these questions as he comes to the practical section of this letter to the Christians at Rome. He starts by reminding them of what he had said earlier, summed-up in the phrase “the mercies of God.”
We might expect him to call us to respond to those mercies with tears of joy, shouts of celebration, and songs of deepest emotion. Each of these is a proper response to the reality of the gospel. William Tyndale the early Reformer and Bible translator understood that the gospel, properly understood, involves a heart-response. Listen to his definition:
“Evangelion (that we call the gospel) is a Greek word and signifieth good, merry, glad and joyful tidings, that maketh a man’s heart glad and maketh him sing, dance, and leap for joy… [This gospel is] all of Christ the right David, how that he hath fought with sin, with death, and the devil, and overcome them: whereby all men that were in bondage to sin, wounded with death, overcome of the devil are without their own merits or deservings loosed, justified, restored to life and saved, brought to liberty and reconciled unto the favor of God and set at one with him again. [Those who believe these] tidings [not only] laud, praise and thank God, [they] are glad, sing and dance for joy.”
Without denying that our hearts may express our response to the gospel, Paul calls us to involve our minds as well.
In light of these mercies, Paul calls on his readers to make “a decisive dedication” of their bodies. The dedication to which Paul refers does not happen automatically, it comes only after a moment of decision or, more likely, after repeated moments of decision. Each new challenge—be it an opportunity for service or a temptation to sin—calls for renewed commitment.
He specifically says they were to present their “bodies.” The word is more than a reference to our physical selves; here Paul probably used body to refer to the whole person. The Amplified Bible uses this meaning as it renders the verse, “presenting all your members and faculties.” Eugene Peterson in The Message offers a dynamic rendering of the idea. He says, “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, and walking around life—and place it before God as an offering.”
Seen this way Paul’s challenge echoes Jesus’ statement of the Greatest Commandment: “Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)
Paul and most of his readers would have been familiar with sacrifices in the temples, whether in the Jewish temple or the pagan temples, but most of those sacrifices were dead. Here Paul calls for “a living sacrifice.” The idea is that this sacrifice, this commitment, this decisive dedication works itself out in the day to day living of our lives. Had Paul been writing a century or so later he might have said, “Yes, those believers who demonstrate their commitment to Christ as they face wild beasts in the arena are spiritual heroes, but so are you if you can demonstrate that same commitment if you honor Christ as you scrape pots in a kitchen or spread mortar at a building site.”
In the final analysis, it is this day-to-day commitment that is the best evidence of our devotion to Christ and the most persuasive and appealing argument for the validity of our claims for the faith.
The rational for this kind of commitment is twofold.
First, such a commitment is pleasing to God. This might sound strange in our “please me or lose me” culture. Think of the reality shows so popular today in which young men or young women are paraded by a bachelor or a bachelorette to be judged and evaluated. The ultimate criterion is, “Does this person please me?” Yet, Paul says the question guiding our spiritual lives should be, “Does my life please God?”
Second, such a sacrifice is appropriate for informed Christians to make.
Commentators are divided over how part of this verse should be translated. Some translate is as “which is your spiritual worship” others follow the Authorized Version’s “which is your reasonable service.” Both the word translated as “spiritual” and the word translated as “worship” are not the usual words Paul chooses to convey this concept. The first word is the same word from which we get the English word “logic.” It can be translated as “spiritual” and is in I Peter, but it can also be translated as “rational.” At the same time, the second word can be translated as “worship” in the sense of religious activities, but it can also be translated as “service” in the sense of activity on behalf of someone.
While the debate rages on I’ve decided that if such a careful writer as Paul should use an “ambiguous” phrase, he probably did so for a reason. He may have wanted his readers to remember that being spiritual doesn’t require us to disengage our minds and that real worship can take place outside the church building.
So, I think it’s possible to paraphrase Paul’s the observation this way: “This total commitment of yourself to God is a spiritual act which comes from the very depth of your being and which is a completely reasonable response to God’s act of commitment to you.”
A New Attitude
If it’s not clear by now, let me state is plainly—Our minds must be part of our commitment to God. In fact, in some ways commitment begins with our minds.
This is clear as Paul tells us what is necessary if we would make the kind of commitment he’s talking about. He does this both positively and negatively.
1. Don’t be conformed to this world’s way of thinking and doing.
J. B. Phillips has a great translation: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.”
“World” is not the physical world but the age, the times, the system that orders its values and perspectives without reference to God. In Paul’s day those whose thinking and actions were shaped by “the world” had “gods” (small “g”) but such gods were created in man’s image.
Today, those who hold a secular world-view either trivialize God or deny his existence altogether.
While Christians would not embrace such notions they do sometimes adopt, however unwittingly, the principles based on them. Such principles could be compared to a computer virus that corrupts the “thinking” processes and renders the output suspect.
Like that computer virus the principles of the non-Christian world-view can infect our thinking just like the Greeks slipped into Troy inside that famous wooden horse. It can happen at the workplace, at school, in the home, and even at church. Keeping the wrong kind of thinking at bay demands vigilance. In the words of another paraphrase you must always “Challenge the right of this present age to set the agenda for your life.”
For this reason Paul doesn’t leave his instructions in the negative.
2. Do allow a renewed mind to transform your life.
Faith in Christ should result in a new way of thinking. As Williams renders this verse, “by the new ideals that mold your minds continue to transform yourselves.” The Twentieth Century New Testament says, “be transformed by the complete change that has come over your minds.”
Too often we expect a converted person to behave differently before they’ve really learned to think differently. The new way of thinking leads to a new way of acting. New attitudes precede new actions.
While I was at Rice University a visiting scholar came for a special chapel service and lectured on some aspect of Christianity in society. In his lecture he mentioned John Newton, the eighteenth century British pastor who wrote the words to “Amazing Grace.” Earlier in his life Newton has served as a slave-ship captain. The lecturer took great delight in pointing out that after his conversion Newton continued in the slave trade. I admit I was irritated; the lecturer had told the truth but not the whole truth.
A few years after his conversion Newton became one of England’s most outspoken opponents of slavery. He persuaded William Wilberforce, an Evangelical Member of Parliament, to use his political influence to make a difference in society. Wilberforce became England’s most outspoken opponent of slavery. Newton supported him completely, giving him valuable insights into the brutal trade.
Only after Newton’s mind grasped the contradiction between a Christian profession and the slave trade did he change his attitude.
Discoveries
Newton’s experience illustrates an important principle that works in the lives of those who are thoughtfully committed. A consequence of possessing this new mind is the capacity to discover or discern God’s will.
That’s the first discovery linked to our commitment. The second discovery lets us see just how wise and wonderful God’s will is.
Some Suggestions
Paul’s words on thoughtful commitment leads to several suggestions.
1. We should address the intellectual needs of new Christians if we want them to grow in their commitment.
2. We should be patient with new believers because it may take time for them to discover some aspect of God’s will we’ve long known.
3. We should be prepared to periodically examine our thinking processes to determine if somehow some worldly way of thinking has worked its way in.
4. We should stand ready to celebrate the wisdom of God’s will.
Conclusion
When we think about what God has done for us we will make a thoughtful commitment to him. God’s total commitment to us calls for our total commitment to him.
