Do not be conformed

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In the Epistle for Sunday, Paul writes, "Do not be conformed to this world." To follow Jesus means to live with the values of Jesus and not the values we see around us. This means that sometimes we will have to be countercultural, when the values of our culture conflict with the values of Jesus.

The theologian Walter Brueggemann says that the two areas of conflicting values today are money and sex. Our world is obsessed with sex, and we have tremendous ambivalence about what is acceptable and what is not. We've lost our boundaries.

The second area he mentions is money, especially commoditization. Our culture turns everything into a commodity which can then be bought and sold. Once something becomes a commodity, it loses its sacredness, integrity, and humanness. Our earth, our time, our affections -- everything is up for sale.

"Do not be conformed to this world." Question everything.
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