Being Conformed To His Image, Not Yours

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” – Romans 8:29

I had just left the office building of a potential employer when I took out my phone and tapped my girlfriend’s name on the screen. The corporate representatives I had just spoken with basically assured me that I would be offered one of two positions the next day and had asked me which of the two positions I would be more interested in. Needless to say, I was feeling good, and in my confidence, I dialed the most immediate person that I know would be willing to endure a selfish rant about my own petty successes. As part of our conversation, she began to tell me about the meeting that she was planning on skipping part of later that evening to take care of some personal business. It didn’t take long before I began to lecture her on the merits of personal responsiblity, loyalty, self-discipline, setting an example for other members of the organization, and seeking to show Christ by her submission to proper authorities. In only the span of a few minutes, I had managed to let Satan convince me that I was so successful and important, that my humble, Christ-loving girlfriend needed to express her faith in exactly the same manner I would have if I were in her situation.

There are sometimes when you just know. You’ve been caught red-handed. Now, God didn’t audibly speak to me, or write a message in the clouds, or even so much as direct my attention to a road sign that made me think a certain thought. No, the Holy Spirit convicted me right there in the driver’s seat of my car and crushed my heart for attempting to conform my girlfriend to my image, a very prideful and sinful image, instead of the glorious and perfect image of Christ. You see, all those things that I told her she needed to do were things that I found easiest for me to do, and the things that she had planned on doing were not sinful actions, rather just a different undertaking of the same true and Biblical faith that we both share.

How often have you sought to correct the behavior of others in the church without first asking yourself if you’re seeking to correct them because you want them to look more like Jesus or more like yourself? Some of us would say frequently, especially if we find ourselves in a position of leadership in the home, in the church or at work. Others might say infrequently, only chiming in to critique the behavior or thoughts of others only when asked, or when the behavior is particularly egregious. Regardless of when and where you lead or what you do for a living, nearly all Christians will have the opportunity to either represent Christ in your relationships or to represent your own self instead.

Take the relationship between a husband and a wife, for example. When a husband sees his wife doing something that he himself is very familiar with or good at, what does he naturally do? He encourages that behavior. He says, “well done, sweetheart! You’re so good at that! We should do more of that together!” And vice versa with the wife; she will say “honey I love that you’re so good at X or Y! Have you considered taking that up as a hobby?” There is very little thought that goes into the expression of this sentiment. We have a way of naturally considering what is good for us is good for everybody, or what we find beautiful ought to be considered beautiful by everyone. But if we scrape away the veneer of our good intentions, what motivation do we find in our hearts for saying such things? Pride. Pride taking its shape as a desire to make other people more like you, and not like anyone else. Fundamentally this assumption starts with a view of self that says “I am the pinnacle of humanity, and everyone ought to be conformed to my own image.”

“Now wait a minute! That’s not my intention when I praise what I enjoy in other people’s lives!” It might not be. There are some virtues that, by God’s grace, He has made us excel in our practice, such as humility, service, self-discipline, submission to proper authority, et cetera. However, even though there are universal virtues that all followers of Jesus ought to strive for, the expression of those virtues will look different in the life of each believer, and to encourage everyone to express those gifts in the same fashion that you do is a form of idolatry. God did not call us to be conformed to my image, your image, your favorite politician’s image, and no, not even your favorite preacher’s image. He called us to be conformed to the image of no one less than Christ Jesus Himself.

This isn’t an easy thing. We have to remember that Jesus was perfect and sinless in all of His ways and that when we say we are to be conformed to His image, what we are saying is that we are to be perfect as He was. Or as God so clearly put it in His law:

“For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” – Leviticus 11:45

Notice that He says “be holy, for I am holy.” Alternatively, “because I am holy.” God wants His relationship with us to be manifested in our lives, and holiness (moral perfection, or being “set apart”) is simply us acting like God has always acted. The problem, of course, is our sinful nature. We are constantly drawn away by the cares of this world as we place anything and everything on the throne of our hearts except for the One who created the human heart to be satisfied in Himself. Being holy is obviously difficult for unholy creatures. However, the first step in becoming holy is recognizing that you are unholy, and confessing to God that you have not met His commandment to be holy.

When Paul wrote Romans 8:29, He knew all too well that sinful creatures like us all too often elect to be unholy rather than holy. This is why he says in the very next verse:

“And those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” – Romans 8:30

There are many expansive tomes that have been penned in order to mine the theological gold that this one verse of Scripture contains, and among the most profound of these truths is what is called the Golden Chain of Redemption. Simply put, God loved us before any of us existed, God knew that we would actively make choices to rebel against Him and destroy ourselves, and God, in His great love, covenanted with us that He would help us and be holy on our behalf when we could not, thereby removing the punishment that we justly deserved, and crediting to us a perfect righteousness that was earned by God’s Son Jesus.

Ultimately, we must remember that being conformed to the image of Christ is something that requires us to give up on any hope of us being able to accomplish holiness apart from God Himself. We must give up hope in our ability to act like God on our own power and of our own volition. As sinful creatures, our rebellion against the Holy One has stained every part of us, mind, body, and soul. Therefore we must place our trust in Another, the Holy One of God, and pray that His Spirit in us would strengthen us so that we can give glory to Him when He makes straight our paths. For as James wrote all those years ago:

“Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.” – James 1:17

What I’m getting at is this: not all of the devil’s deception is blatant and obvious to us. Sometimes its as subtle as convincing us that the way my friend exercises his gift of faith is wrong because he doesn’t exercise his gift of faith like I do. And when you go up to that individual and correct them, you are sinning against them by destroying the God-ordained diversity God wants in His church. Furthermore, take care to notice how the way that the brothers or sisters around you walk with God could make your walk with God better. How might you be unintentionally sinning against others by looking down on how they worship? Judging what they wear to church because it’s different from what you wear? Distancing yourself from people in your community group because they act or speak differently than you? If you are constantly critiquing the ways in which fellow believers practice their faith in regards to non-sin issues because it is different from you, congratulations, you’ve entered into Pharisaic legalism and you’re an idolater. Thoughts of discomfort or an unwillingness to associate with brothers or sisters because of things like that are you rejecting the ways in which God is opening you up to learn more about His people, and in the process reveal more of Himself to you. Most dangerously, perhaps, a constant judgment of others for expressing the faith differently than you results in feelings of contempt, the great destroyer of unity.

Satan has used this tactic to destroy churches and break the fellowship of outwardly healthy bodies of believers. So brother or sister, be a critic of self before being a critic of others. Or as a wise brother once said, “Spend as much time praying for your fellow Christians as you spend criticizing them.”

Praise be to God that He is faithful to show us the error of our ways when we confess to Him and trust Him with our lives. We say so often that we trust in Jesus, but what do we trust Him with? We must trust in Jesus for our sanctification just as much as we trust in Him for our salvation. Seek out every opportunity to dwell in unity with fellow believers, and take time to appreciate the ways in which God has made them to reveal His beauty through their lives, especially the ways in which their lives differ from yours. Real, authentic unity doesn’t come from catering to the needs of different age groups, people with children, or promoting or racial reconciliation (although those are all certainly parts of it). Real reconciliation comes when we recognize that, as Christians, we are all saved by the same Holy Spirit, and that God has given us each unique gifts in the form of our childhood, our personality, and our spiritual giftings. Let us, therefore, echo the sentiment of Paul as he wrote to the Corinthians:

“If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” – 1 Corinthians 12:15-19