In St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
(12:1-2) he gives a strong admonishment
to those who are Christians when he states, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The words not conformed (me suschematizo 3361, 4964) teach us that, in
the process of presenting ourselves to God, we must not let ourselves be
fashioned into the pattern of the world i.e. its paradigm.
It is interesting to note that the original meaning of the word paradigm
first appeared in English sometime
during the 15th century and meant "an example or pattern". (Since the 1960’s, the word paradigm
has developed the meaning that it is a framework containing a person’s basic
assumptions and ways of thinking.)
The
word transformed (metamorphoo 3339) connotes the complete change that takes
place when a Christian presents himself or herself as a living sacrifice to
God. After this transformation the
Christian looks at life and music differently than the world looks at it. So perhaps the import of not being conformed
is resisting the world’s paradigm of life and ipso facto music and musicing.
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