What does it mean to not “conform” to this world?

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Satan is more than a liar, he’s the master “con man.”

What’s a “con man”? David Cranford offers this definition:

    “Con-man” is a term that is short for confidence man. A con-man is someone who gains your confidence for the purpose of ripping you off. One of the better known confidence tricks is the ponzi scheme which promises unbeatable returns on investments with little or no risk. Bernie Madoff is the most infamous perpetrator of the ponzi scheme, having perpetrated the largest confidence trick in history amounting to some $65 billion (including gains reported to victims).

I would suggest the greatest of all cons came when Satan played out an evil scheme to slightly change what God said and use that evil twist to entice Eve to sin (see Genesis 3).

Unfortunately for all of us, his scheme worked.

Since that time, we’ve all been caught up in schemes of sin, and that’s what God wants to change in all of us starting by transforming our thinking. A key scripture providing us insight about this is Romans 12:2:

“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.”

There’s more to this idea of no longer conforming to the world than you might first imagine. Pastor Doane Brubaker helps us dig a little deeper into this exhortation with this story:

    The word we translate “conform” is schema. We get from it words like scheme or schematic. When I did some work with electronics I worked with schematics. That’s the plan or diagram that shows how each component is connected so the device works properly. If you’re assembling a radio, you’d better be sure it conforms to the schematic. If you want to mess with someone’s mind just for fun, or sabotage their efforts out of meanness, switch their schematic with one designed for a different model than they’re assembling.

    The Bible warns us that the devil, the prince of this darkened world, has switched schematics on us. He has a plan for us that will lead us away from God if we conform to its design. We have to follow a different design and conform to God’s schematic.

Even though Satan’s scheme worked, God had a scheme of His own, a plan that would change our schematic from sin to holiness:

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ,” 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.

The evil scheme of sin is busted by Jesus offering Himself as a sacrifice for sin, and through Him the schematic for our lives change! God is transforming our minds that schemed of sin into the mind of Christ.

And so, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world …”.

Scotty