I appeal to you therefore, brothers,by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to
God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be
conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewal of your
mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what
is good and acceptable and perfect.

Oh, how many questions this verse—Romans 12:2—raises
that need thoughtful, biblical answers. For example, How does the
command not to be conformed to this world relate to Paul’s
statement in 1 Corinthians 9:22, “I have become all things to
all people, that by all means I might save some”? How is
becoming all things to all people not conforming to the world? Or
how does the command not to conform to the world, that is, to be
counter-cultural, relate to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians
10:32-33? “Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the
church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do,
not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be
saved.” How does not being conformed to the world fit with
not giving offense to the world? You can’t always do both.
How does not being conformed to the world fit with pleasing
everyone for the sake of salvation? You can’t always please
people if you refuse to conform to some of their thoughts and
ways.

So the questions are many, and we will tackle some of them. My
aim today is to give you a way to think about these questions. To
give you some categories that I pray will be part of the renewing
of your mind so that you can prove and embrace the will of God.

The reason there are questions like these is not because Paul
slipped up and got confused about what it means to follow Christ in
a fallen world. Paul was not confused. He was holding two Christian
impulses—two principles—in balance. When Christ came
into the world, and lived and died and rose from the dead, and set
the redeeming kingdom of God in motion, and unleashed the mighty
gospel on the world—two powerful impulses, or forces, spread
everywhere the gospel spread.

The Indigenous Principle and the Pilgrim Principle

These two impulses are always in tension with each other. At
times they push in opposite directions, and the great challenge is
to find the biblical balance. Andrew Walls, in his book,

The Missionary Movement In Christian History, calls these
two impulses the Indigenous Principle and the
Pilgrim Principle (Mary Knoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2001,
pp. 7-9). In other words, the gospel can and must become indigenous
in every (fallen!) culture in the world. It can and must find a
home in the culture. It must fit in. That’s the indigenous
impulse. But at the same time, and just as powerful, the gospel
produces a pilgrim mindset. It loosens people from their culture.
It criticizes and corrects culture. It turns people into pilgrims
and aliens and exiles in their own culture. When Paul says,
“Do not conformed to this world,” and “I became
all things to all people,” he is not confused; he is calling
for a critical balance of two crucial biblical impulses.

In, But Not Of

There are many ways to describe this tension. We say,
Christians are in the world but not of the world. Jesus
prays, “I do not ask that you take them out of the
world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not
of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John
17:15-16). They are in the world—that’s the
indigenous principle. They are not of the
world—that’s the pilgrim principle.

Separation and Participation

Or we say Christians should be separate from the world
and yet participate in the world. 2 Corinthians 6:17,
“Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from
them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing.”
That’s the pilgrim principle. But in another place Paul
limits the meaning of separation and says, “I wrote to you in
my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not
at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world . . .
since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am
writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of
brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality . . .”
(1 Corinthians 5:9). That’s the indigenous principle.
Don’t go out of the world. One impulse is
separation, and one impulse is participation.
Both are crucial.

Adaptation and Confrontation

Or we can speak of the impulse of adaptation and the
impulse of confrontation. For example, on the one hand,
Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, “Aspire to live
quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands
. . . so that you may live properly before outsiders and be
dependent on no one.” In other words, adapt and don’t
make waves; do what’s fitting and seemly—live properly
(euschemonos). So Paul prays in 1 Timothy 2:2 “that
we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every
way.” Quiet, peaceful. That’s adaptation.

But on the other hand, Paul has a very different word to say in
Ephesians 5:6-11, namely, confrontation. “The wrath
of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore
do not associate with them. . . . ¹¹ Take no part in the
unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
Expose them! This is not going to go down well. Which is why Paul
says in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a
godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” That happens
when you are “not conformed” to the world.

• Adaptation and confrontation;
• participation and separation;
• in the world but not of the world;
• do not be conformed to this world, yet become all things to all
  people that you might save some;
• be indigenous yet be a pilgrim.

I think what will help us navigate our way through these waters
between excessive adaptation and excessive
confrontation—overemphasis on the indigenous or the pilgrim
principle—will be to understand the biblical roots of this
tension. I see at least four: the uniquely Christian views of 1)
Creation, 2) Christ, 3) Conversion, and 4) Kingdom. Let’s
take those one at a time and see how they are the root of the
indigenous/pilgrim tension in Christianity.

1. First, the Indigenous/Pilgrim Tension Is Rooted in the
Christian View of Creation

For example, when Paul is dealing with how a Christian adapts to
a culture where meat sold in the market may have been sacrificed to
idols, he says this in 1 Corinthians 10:25-26, “Eat whatever
is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the
ground of conscience. For ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and
the fullness thereof.’” In other words, creation
belongs to God and to his children for their use. Physical things
like meat and drink cannot be religiously co-opted or morally
contaminated by non-Christians. God’s ownership of all
creation, including meat offered to idols, supports the indigenous
impulse. You belong here. It’s all God’s; eat what you
wish.

But that’s not the only truth about creation—that
God owns it. There are other truths. One is Romans 8:20-22,
“The creation was subjected to futility. . . . The whole
creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth
until now.” In other words, creation is fallen. It’s
God’s. It’s for our use. But it has gone wrong. So
another truth about creation is that it needs redemption and the
present form of it is passing away. 1 Corinthians 7:31, “The
present form of this world is passing away.”

When Paul applies this to food, he quotes the overly indigenous
in Corinth who say, “Food is meant for the stomach and the
stomach for food” (1 Corinthians 6:13). True enough. But not
the whole truth. So Paul adds, “And God will destroy both one
and the other.” In other words, food and stomach are not
absolutes. Creation is fallen. Its present form will pass away. It
must be redeemed. Therefore, we are pilgrims.

God made it: we are at home (indigenous principle). It is
fallen, and someday God will redeem it (pilgrim principle). So we
are both at home and not at home. We must always use the world as
though it belonged to our Father; but also with a view to
God’s purposes in redemption, not just creation.

2. Second, the Indigenous/Pilgrim Tension Is Rooted in the
Christian View of Christ

Very simply Christ became a human being. That’s the
indigenous principle.
He was one of us. Oh, how like us he was!
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
He shared our same nature (Hebrews 2:14). He was tempted the way we
are (Hebrews 4:15).

But he came to his own, and his own did not receive him (John
1:11). We killed him. He knew we would, and he came anyway. And so
he unleashed the pilgrim principle. He was at home, he became like
us. But Oh, how different he was. And the difference got him
killed. This is the way Christianity has spread incarnationally for
2,000 years. Missionaries are human, they learn the language, they
learn the culture. They fit in. Indigenous. And then they suffer,
and sometimes get killed. They follow their Lord. They are
pilgrims. Indigenous and pilgrims. Incarnation and crucifixion.
Become all things; do not be conformed.

3. Third, the Indigenous/Pilgrim Tension Is Rooted in the
Christian View of Conversion

Romans 3:28, “We hold that one is justified by faith apart
from works of the law.” God counts you righteous in Christ
the moment you put your faith in Christ alone as your Savior from
sin and the Lord of your life and your supreme Treasure. In the
twinkling of an eye you are counted righteous in God’s eyes
by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone.
Justification unleashed the indigenous principle. You are counted
indigenous to heaven before you are morally fit for heaven. Christ
is your fitness by faith alone.

But now that you are accepted in the beloved—justified by
faith alone—the Holy Spirit goes to work on you, and you
start to become in practice what you are in Christ. And thus the
pilgrim principle is unleashed: You must change. You cannot be at
home in your present condition. “If then you have been raised
with Christ [if you have become indigenous to heaven!] . . . Set
your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on
earth [become a pilgrim!]” (Colossians 3:1-2).

Justification and sanctification—in that order—are
the root of the indigenous/pilgrim tension. We are righteous in
Christ—indigenous, at home. Now we must become what we
are—the pilgrim must make progress.

4. Finally, the Indigenous/Pilgrim Tension Is Rooted in the
Christian View of the Kingdom

The glorious kingdom of God has already come in Jesus Christ.
The age to come has arrived. So Jesus says in Luke 11:20, “If
it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom
of God has come upon you.” And he says in Luke 17:21:
“The kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” Therefore,
subjects of the kingdom—the children of God—are at home
here and now in the kingdom of their Father. And the indigenous
impulse is unleashed.

But on the other hand, the kingdom of God is not yet fully here.
Promise has arrived, but consummation remains future. At the Last
Supper Jesus says, “I tell you that from now on I will not
drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God
comes” (Luke 22:18). It’s not here yet. And therefore
there is a strong pilgrim impulse. We are waiting. Yeaning.
Longing. Aliens. Exiles. Sojourners. We are at home, yet Oh, so not
at home!

Conclusion

In conclusion then, when Paul says in Romans 12:2, “Do not
be conformed to this world,” he is pushing on one side of
this balance. My aim has simply been to give the bigger picture of
his thought, and keep us in balance.

• Yes, confrontation of the world! But also missionary
  adaptation.
• Yes, separation! But also cultural participation.
• No, not of the world! But yes, in the
  world.
• No, not conformed to this world! But yes, becoming all things
  to all people that we might save some.
• Yes, we are indigenous! But we are also strangers,
  pilgrims!

Because

• Creation is the Lord’s, yet fallen and in need of
  redemption.
• Christ is incarnate, yet crucified.
• Conversion is justification by faith alone, yet followed by the
  discipline of sanctification.
• The kingdom has already come, but not its consummation.

How shall we know the balance? The answer is coming: “be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may
discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and
perfect.” My prayer is that this message is part of that
mind-renewal that will help you prove what is the will of God.

What I aim to do when I come back from vacation is illustrate,
by linking chapters 1 and 12, how this works in relation to
homosexuality and the cultural issue of the marriage amendment to
the constitution. Until then, in every issue and every action, ask
the Lord for wisdom, immerse your mind in the Scriptures, and look
steadfastly at Jesus Christ, and you will be transformed in to his
image.