I have had a few occasions where someone has asked me the following question, “Has anyone ever told you that you look like a famous actor?”  On one occasion I remember the person standing there, snapping their fingers and then saying, “I know, you look like Alec Baldwin.”  Now imagine my disappointment because I was hoping for maybe Cary Grant.  You know, someone suave, sophisticated, and charming.  Not someone with a lot of personal baggage.  A couple of weeks ago another person stopped me and said, “Has anyone ever told you that you look like Robert DeNiro?”  I politely said “No, but thanks.”  Later I started thinking about this and it hit me – I was just told that I look like another old guy actor!  Why can’t they pick someone younger, handsome, cool, and hip?  But here’s something you should know – not a single of these encounters has ever sparked within me the thought that I need to change my looks.

If you pay attention to Hollywood personalities and socialites, you know that some of them have “had some work done.”  There are those who have subtle face lifts or weight changes.  Notably the Kardashians fit into this group.  Then there are the more dramatic transformations that make people nearly unrecognizable to their former image.  Folks like Mickey Rourke, Demi Moore, Madonna, or Jocelyn Wildenstein, the infamous New York City cat lady, just to name a few.  Us boomers learned about these transformations through the pages of gossip magazines.  Today, young folks are impacted by a growing number of on-line “influencers.”  No need to spend $10 on a print and bound instruction manual – you can get all of that in the palm of your hand.  I think the impetus to this is the need to please someone.

You might think about some of the changes that you have made and why.  Maybe you were hoping that it would please your parents or primary caregiver.  It might have been to please your girlfriend, boyfriend, fiancé, spouse, or your kids.  Maybe you wanted to “please” a teacher or a coach.  You might have been set on pleasing your boss or a client.  Or maybe it was simply to please yourself.  I wonder though, how much time do any of us spend contemplating “what would be pleasing to God?”  What changes in my heart and life would be pleasing to God?

Paul makes a strong appeal to the members of the Roman church.  This is not a subtle invitation.  He isn’t saying, “you know, if you really want to” or “you might think about . . .”  Urgency and necessity superintended his words – you must stop and contemplate “what would be pleasing to God.”  What transformation of heart and life would be pleasing to God?  Paul starts with a renewed mind.  It is the mind that has clarity and space to pause and truly focus on what God desires.  He reminds them of the fact that Jesus was truly the only person who ever put God’s desire first in everything that was said and done.  Paul wants the Roman church to aspire to this.  He also wants them to pursue it.  He knows that no one can be a mere spectator to the will of God – you are either subject to it or a rebel.  For Paul two central actions contribute to this pursuit – participation in communal worship and service to the world.  Paul encouraged the Romans to make this their life’s priority because transformation would help them to know God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will. 

I’ve come to the realization that I’ve never experienced meaningful change sitting on my derriere.  My diet has never changed because I thought hard enough about it.  My health hasn’t improved by driving to the local gym and then sitting outside for an hour.  My attitude towards the world hasn’t changed because I haven’t changed the news channel.  My neighbor hasn’t experienced Christ’s love through me because I spend 99.9% of my time inside and hidden away.

J. B. Phillip’s once said, “don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.”  The only person that we are supposed to be conformed to is Jesus the Christ.  When we do so, we will be “perfected in love” for God and our neighbor.  This is the transformation we are called to pursue.  This is the transformation we must make space and time for.

I invite you to take time and read each of the scriptures above followed by reflection on the questions below.  Consider how you are pursuing God’s transformation of your heart and life.    Lastly, I pray that God bless the reading of God’s Word and the meditations of your heart.

Questions to Consider this week:

• Monday:  How are you letting the world squeeze you into its mold?
• Tuesday:  How are you resisting complete surrender to the image of the world?
• Wednesday:  How often do you pause to contemplate what would please God?
• Thursday:  What practices do you have that foster conforming to the image of Christ?
• Friday:  How is worship helping to form you into a more committed follower of Jesus?
• Saturday:  Where are you serving others expecting this act to be formational?

Actions for the Week:

• Head:  Pause and consider what would be pleasing to God.
• Heart:  Open yourself up to the leading of the Holy Spirit so that transformation might continue.
• Hand:  Pray, worship, and serve expecting God to transform your life into the image of Jesus.