Transformed by the Renewing of Our Minds

We are called to be nonconformists. But our non-conformity rests, not so much in diet, or in clothes, or that kind of stuff, but in what? In transformation of our lives by the renewing of our minds. That our uniqueness is to be discerned, first of all, in how we think.

We are intellectual nonconformists. That's the first mark of the Christian lifestyle, if it's going to be authentic. We are intellectual non-conformists. We do not buy the values of this world. We do not buy the axioms of this world. We do not buy the evaluations or the judgments of this world. Because we look at the world, we look at man, we look at the state, we look at the church, we look at the whole creation from the perspective of God himself, if we have the mind of Christ.

Our non-conformity is to be built upon the transformation of our being by means of the renewal of our minds, through patterning our thinking after the mind of Christ. And that doesn't come magically, intuitively, or mystically, or experientially. It comes by rigorous discipleship, disciplined study of the scriptures. Now I'm not saying that because a person can recite the right answers to what the Bible says, or that if he knows it intellectually he will automatically implement it in his life. We know there's always a gap between theory and practice. But how can we even begin to do what Christ wants us to do? How can we even begin to be with Christ wants us to be? How can we ever begin to know what it means to bear witness? If we don't first understand His Word.

So if you want to discover an authentic Christian lifestyle, you study the Bible.