Conform or be cast out
Last post, I talked of being "sick of convention", tired of doing what I am "expected" to do, etc. This could be viewed as being rebellious. If so, great! For 2,000 years, man has sought God and that has almost always involved a certain degree of rebellion against the established church. Jesus certainly was a rebel vs. the established practices of the church.

In the 1980's there was a rock song that actually had a good message. In the song, they warned that society was pushing you to conform saying repeatedly, "Conform or be cast out." Unfortunately, there is push in the modern church for conformity. A whole lot of "you should nots" or "you shoulds"...

Part of what I am struggling with, feebly trying to articulate, is my passion for more. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." This process for me is a renewing of my mind and a renewing of my relationship with God.

One of my favorite recent books is Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. In it, he says;

"The crowd does not take kindly to nonconformity. It is the scorn of our peers probably more than anything else that hinders our living out of center. The fear of ridicule paralyzes us more effectively than flat-out opposition. How much good is left undone because of this fear! The irony is that the opinions we fear most are not those of people we really respect, yet these very persons influence our lives more than we want to admit. The desire to stand well with "them" can lead to an appalling mediocrity and a frightening unfreedom. Living "out of center" shapes and forms a liberated Christian. Albert Camus once said, "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so totally free that your very act of existence becomes an act of rebellion." There is nothing more maddening to the mob than a truly free person."

This whole process for me is about transformation. It isn't about conformity. It isn't about winning a popularity contest at Wednesday night supper.

One book I will quote often because it just blew me away (along with Wild at Heart) is Dangerous Wonder by Michael Yaconelli. In it, he quotes an Episcopal priest named Robert Capon, "We are in a war between dullness and astonishment. The most critical issue facing Christians is not abortion, pornography, the disintergration of the family, moral absolutes, MTV, drugs, racism, sexuality, or school prayer. The critical issue today is dullness. We have lost our astonishment. The good news is no longer good news, it is okay news. Christianity is no longer life-changing, it is life-enhancing. Jesus doesn't change people into wild-eyed radicals anymore, He changes them into "nice" people."

I'm tired of being dull. I want the passion and excitement I first felt when I became a believer. That is what this quest is all about.

Next post...more from Yaconelli..."I want to be filled with an astonishment which is so captivating that I am considered wild, unpredictable and...well...dangerous. Yes, I want to be dangerous to a dull and boring religion."

Soar.