Pastor Tom Johnson, August 27, 2023
I’m sure you’ve had a computer crash or your phone freeze or stop working? One of the preschool office computers crashed last week. When you talk to a technician, they’ll often ask, “Have you tried restarting or rebooting your device?” Sometimes outdated software needs to be updated. To do this, you must download the software and then the computer or phone will have to restart, reboot, and then it should be in good working order.
One of my favorite movies is called The Matrix. It’s the world overtaken by artificial intelligence. Machines have taken over everything—including every human being. Everyone is literally plugged into a computer mainframe. The computer generates all the input for sense of smell, taste, sight, hearing, and touch. Everything people experience is computer-generated. It’s such a powerful computer program that people don’t realize it isn’t real. They don’t realize their bodies are in pods—only experiencing a virtual world the computer is creating. The good news is that some have been unplugged and liberated. They can now move around and see the world as it is. They dedicate their lives to working together and freeing others. They know the truth and it has set them free. Once a person is freed, they no longer want to conform to the old computer-generated life. They must restart their lives all over again in this new and greater reality. Their thinking is forever altered after this radical reboot of their minds.
Long before computers, our Scripture from Romans says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” This Scripture challenges us to be non-conformists—to unplug ourselves from the world’s mainframe—to not go along with the crowd. I remember when I told my dad how I got into some mischief by following my friends, he said, “Tommy, if your friends asked you to jump off a bridge would you?” “Do not be conformed to this world.” This is just as Jesus prayed in John 17: that we who are “in the world…would not be of the world” (John 17:11,16). 1 Peter 2:9 says that “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” The Old King James Version says, we are a “Peculiar people.”
This world is not our home. We are citizens of Christ’s kingdom. We are sojourners in this foreign land. We pray “Thy Kingdom come” because our identity as children of God transcends our ethnicity, tribalism, and our political allegiances. As we engage in non-violent resistance to the powers and principalities of this present darkness, we surrender our lives and minds to our Creator in living sacrifice. This is what we do in worship, we commit our ourselves body and soul and all things to God just as Christ offered himself on the Cross of Calvary. The Holy Spirit helps us let go of our ego and pride. The Spirit enlightens our minds to see how we speak lies to ourselves—how our thinking is like the thinking of the world that is passing away not the Kingdom that comes. This is the grace of humility that our Scripture is talking about—the gift of “not thinking of ourselves more highly that we ought to think” but “with sober judgment.” It is a blessing to realize that our minds need renewal—to be reprogrammed—to have a fresh start and reboot.
When I was a freshman in college and only 19 years old, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Barcelona, Spain. My mom, in her wisdom, knew I needed some humbling and sobering—and a fresh start. So she put a folded, 3 by 5 inch card in my wallet from Proverbs chapter 3 (vv. 5-8):
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
What we all need is a Spirit-inspired “force quit” of all the unhealthy thoughts stirring around in our heads. “Force quit” and then “move to trash”—throwing destructive thinking away. Next, we download all our operational software updates from Scripture as we hear, read, and meditate on the Word of God. This hits the reset button to allow the old systems pass away. The Holy Spirit reboots our minds for a fresh restart. We no longer have our thinking shaped by the system failures of this world or the invasive viruses that infect our minds and hearts. We have a firewall and anti-virus protection from God’s Word, his angels, and the Spirit to keep us safe from those trying to hack and crash our renewed sense of who we are and whose we are.
A marvelous thing happens when God leads us out of conformity with the world. “Be transformed”—metamorphoō—where we get the word “metamorphosis.” “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to us, but our Father in heaven.” The old way of thinking has passed. By the power of the resurrection, a new way has come. We no longer need to inflate our own ego. We stop comparing ourselves to one another. We stop competing. We think, as our Scripture says, “with sober judgment.” Charles Spurgeon from the 19th century said that this is repentance—not just a change of mind—but a great and deep change—even of the mind itself. We now recognize the astounding beauty all around us and the mind-altering truth: though we are many members, we are united in Christ. Our differences are no a threat but a gift. This complete overhaul of our minds enables us to celebrate what God is doing to transform us, bind us all together, and make us one.
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