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Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will – Romans 12:2 (NIV)
I like this comic actor; he is so funny that even looking at him makes me laugh. I have watched many of his films. He played several roles, from being a prince and a king to a crook and a Mafioso. He is one of those very talented actors; in front of the camera, he becomes possessed by the character he plays. In one of his interviews, he said that he always trains, sometimes undergoes intense training, to learn a character he has to play to produce the expected level of performance. I believe it is true for all actors. I watched him the other day, and suddenly I realized that he always makes a gesture with his right hand in all his works. It is like his signature, his unique identifier. Though it is something so obvious, it is then that I realized that regardless of the role he plays, despite the hard training, he is still the same person inside, his voice is the same, his gestures are the same. Actors still keep their personalities, their ticks and their preferences. Even when they have to work on their physical appearance for a specific role, they are not changed by the mere fact of emulating a character.
We play many roles; we are children to our parents, those with children of their own play the role of parents. We are pastors, CEOs, friends, etc. Some roles may have a lasting impact on how a person behaves, but the true change does not come from outside factors. Regardless of the role you are playing, if you are an angry person, you remain an angry person; if you are kind, you are kind; if you are a person without a vision, it does not change because of the hat you are wearing. You know what, even growing old does not change a person. When I was still young, I would hear people saying things like, “that old fogey is still as difficult to live with as he was when still young,” or “that woman is still irresponsible even now that she has children.” Logically, age should change people. As a person grows in age, they learn, they acquire wisdom, abandon foolishness bound up in the heart of a child (Proverbs 22:15), and recklessness that belongs to the youth. Unfortunately, as I said last week, maturity does not necessarily come with age. What changes a person is what God, the Holy Spirit, does in a person's heart. That is why the Bible tells us to “be transformed by the renewal of the mind.” If you want to change who you are, fix the person inside, where your character, beliefs, and motivation reside.
The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind….” (Jeremiah 17:9-10 NIV). When the Scripture talks about the heart, it implies the mind, the real person who is inside who directs all our decisions and actions. That inner person, the mind, is sick, and only God knows how to fix it. There is no real transformation without the work of the Spirit. There are two patterns; there are only two ways of living, there are only two systems: the worldly system and the Godly one. You are either in one or the other; there are no “non-aligned” countries! Even if a person works as hard as they want, they can only be good; none can be godly by outside work. We can greatly play our roles, become impeccable, but the person inside is the same. The journey from good to godly is only made through the Word of God “sharper than any double-edged sword; it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thought and attitude of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 NIV). And when the Word judges the thoughts and attitude of the heart, it is not to condemn but to teach and lead to transformation and total deliverance from our previous self.
As I was thinking about this message, I remembered a preacher who visited us when I was at university. He told us a story of a day when animals decided to name the dog their king. The hare decided to provoke the dog. So, in the stadium full of participants at the big coronation event, the hare paraded in front of the new king with fresh bleeding meat. Despite his efforts, the dog was not able to resist. So, after some internal struggles, he ran after the meat and left the throne. So, the king dog was still a dog after all. This is what I say, lack of purity, small mind, not being able to see beyond the tip of one's nose, and lack of honorable ambitions are holding people down. Life will still be below average despite big roles or honorable names when one is not transformed inside. We can only achieve the greatness we all dream about through the transformation by the Word.
