Conformity to Christ

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

NKJV

In our modern politically correct and diverse society, we feel constant pressure to tolerate others.  I am for tolerance when it comes to race, gender, and even tolerant of opinions that may differ from my own.  However, I will never, nor do I encourage others to tolerate surrendering their deeply held values in the interest of political correctness and diversity.  I also will never condone tolerating others whose values include the murder of people who do not hold their values. 

Once again, terrorism has reared its ugly head and as is usually the case, the perpetrators of these violent acts are linked to radical Islam.  Many believe the religion of Islam is a religion of peace but when we look at the meaning of the world Islam we discover that it actually mean submission.  Islam was founded in violence and still believes in violence as a principle and as a way of life.  (1) 

The thing adherents of Islam command their followers to submit to is Sharaih Law.  The greatest danger Sharaih law poses to the United States is its command for both Islamic terrorism and pre-violent “civilization jihad” or “stealth jihad” depending on whatever is necessary to bring people into submission to Sharaih Law.  (2)  In other words besides the visible acts of terrorism like what we saw on 9/11 and most recently in Paris, jihad also involves fundamentally changing a civilization bringing it into submission to Sharaih Law in a stealth manner. 

One of the most shocking things that have been revealed to the world after the attacks in Paris is the existence of so-called “no-go” zones.”  These “no-go” zones are areas in the French state that are Muslim-dominated and not under French control.  (3)  We must now wonder if the “no-go” zones the French started in the belief that these zones would allow followers of Islam to freely practice their so-called religion of peace, have now become breeding grounds of hatred and violent jihad.  (4)  We must also wonder if similar “no-go” zones could arise in the United States.

To insure the United States does not form “no-go” zones we must,

1)      Abandon our concern to be politically correct in dealing with radical Islam and call it what it is, a religion promoting violence and jihad.  (1)

2)      Educate people on the truth of what Sharaih Law entails so they will not want to see it adopted in the United States.  For instance, the adherents of Sharaih are fundamentally opposed to the survival of the Constitution of the United States.  For example, the first amendment of the United States grants everyone the freedom of speech, and religion.  Sharaih, however, does not allow the practice of any other religion or speech that speaks out against Allah.  If we were to allow “no-go” zones in the United States where they practice Sharaih, how long would it be before they would begin to attempt civilizational jihad and the fundamental changing of our society.  We do not want to ever reach a point in the United States where 16% of people favor ISIS as they do in France.  (5)

3)      Promote conformity to Jesus Christ.  Romans 12:2 encourages us not to conform to this world but to instead allow our minds to be transformed through the renewing of our minds in order to demonstrate the perfect and acceptable will of God.  Islam teaches conformity to Allah but it is a forced conformity of “convert or die.”  Christianity teaches a voluntary conformity to Jesus Christ with the reward of eternal life (John 3:16). 

Christianity is a truly peaceful religion for Jesus himself taught that it is the peacemakers, not violent jihadists, which will inherit the Kingdom of God.  I believe that as more and more people choose to conform to the peaceful teachings of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, it will be more difficult for jihadists to recruit followers. 

The attacks in Paris and the growing acceptance of Sharaih Law is a call to action for Christians reading this all over the world.  As Christians we must,

1)      Draw closer to God through prayer and study of the Bible to bring our lives more into conformity with Jesus Christ. 

2)      Begin living lives that glorify God and non-conformity to the world.  This does not mean we have to abandon any fun in our lives but when we are tempted to do something that violates God and His Word, we must resist the temptation and maybe even run away just as Joseph did when tempted by Potiphar’s wife.  In this way we can witness to the world that we have decided to live lives of conformity to God and the Bible.

3)      Share with others what Jesus has done in our lives so they too can have an opportunity to live lives of conformity to Jesus Christ. 

Join me by taking time this week to spend time alone with God in prayer and study of the Bible.  Ask God to reveal any area of your life that is not in conformity to Jesus, repent, and begin living a life in conformity to Jesus.  This is the beginning of what I believe will be a revival to our world. 

1. Darwich, Bassam. Islam & Peace. www.answering-islam.org. [Online] [Cited: January 13, 2015.] http://www.answering-islam.org/Hoaxes/salamislam.html.

2. Center for Security Policy. What is Shariah. shariahthethreat.org. [Online] [Cited: January 13, 2015.] http://shariahthethreat.org/a-short-course-1-what-is-shariah/.

3. James, Abigail. The shocking reality of 'no-go' zones: France has no control over Muslim-populated neighborhoods. www.catholic.org. [Online] Catholic Online, January 9, 2015. [Cited: January 13, 2015.] http://www.catholic.org/news/international/europe/story.php?id=58341.

4. Scarbouough, Rowan. Muslims segregated from French society in growing Islamist mini-states. www.washingtontimes.com. [Online] The Washington Times, January 7, 2015. [Cited: January 13, 2015.] http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/7/french-islamist-mini-states-grow-into-problem-out-/?page=all.

5. Grant, Madeline. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/7/french-islamist-mini-states-grow-into-problem-out-/?page=all. www.newsweek.com. [Online] Newsweek, August 26, 2014. [Cited: January 13, 2015.] http://www.newsweek.com/16-french-citizens-support-isis-poll-finds-266795.