ROMANS 12:1-2: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 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
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OBSERVATION: How should the believer in Jesus Christ respond to all the current social unrest that is sweeping across our land? How should the believer in Jesus Christ respond to the injustices that touch the lives of innocent people? It is easy to get caught up in the emotional narrative. The believer in Jesus Christ must react differently!

If you watch our current culture, it is a swinging pendulum. We seem to go from one crisis to the next. If you try to keep up you end up dizzy and confused. The Lord has not called us to walk in confusion. He has not given us a spirit of fear. We are called to walk in a spirit of love, power, and a sound mind. There must be a different pathway of response!

The first thing we must do as a believer in Jesus Christ is position our lives in worship. This may seem like an odd response. Yet, it is the proper response. While the world riots and protests, the believer must go to their knees. It is not through protest that the world will be changed. It is through prayer!

• “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

Before we give our self to any cause, however noble it may seem, we must first give ourselves wholly and completely to God. To worship is to surrender our entire life – body, soul, and spirit, to the Lord. We are called to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy, set apart, surrendered, and obedient to the Lord. This is always our first and most important response!

This response is completely antithetical to the worlds response. The world cries – action! The Spirit cries – prayer! If we are not careful we can be swept up by a wave that will take us in entirely the wrong direction. We may even find ourselves unknowingly promoting the objectives of the enemy.

• “And do not be conformed to this world…”

So what do we do? Are we to remain inactive, silent, and separated from the injustices in our world? Absolutely not! However, we must always get our marching orders from the Lord. We must allow His Word and His Spirit to direct our lives, not the world or our emotions. We never take our marching orders from the tyranny of the urgent. We receive them from the Sovereign Spirit of Almighty God!

• “…but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

So, in this time of racial, social, and political unrest, what should we do? We should seek the Lord for His strategy to take a stand against all forms of hatred and inequality. Yet, we should not be duped into action that is not born in prayer, led by the Spirit, and in accordance with God’s Word.

I believe that the church’s response to the current crisis needs to be transformative. It needs to be life giving. It needs to be different than the world’s response. It needs to begin with personal repentance and revival and a commitment to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a hurting world. We will not change the world unless we change one life at a time. And, the only one who can change our life is Jesus Christ our Lord!

If there is any racial prejudice in my life, I need to repent. And, then I need to begin to bridge the gap through my personal life and example. It is much easier to waive a sign then it is to begin to show love to others in the marketplace. Racism and injustice stops when I begin to live out my love for Jesus Christ in every area of my life. When I do, my life becomes a transformative agent of God’s grace.

The protests will die down and the world will go on to its next crisis. Yet, our love can never diminish. We must daily offer our lives as a living sacrifice to the Lord and realize that we have one objective that we have been called to do. And, this objective is the only one that can truly change the world!

• “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” Matthew‬ ‭28:19-20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Lord, help me to live a transformative life through the power of Your grace!

In Jesus Name!