The Vine - York St Church of Christ

FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE
IN HIS IMAGE—PART TWO
Salt & Pepper Article
By Ray Veal
Candidates for Cadetship with the London
Metropolitan Police were asked to answer the
following question: “While patrolling in a busy
London suburb a gas main explodes in the
middle of a busy road, creating a huge crater,
blocking traffic in every direction. A number of
vehicles collide and you go to assist a young lady
who is in distress, only to realize that she is the
wife of your local police inspector, and you note
that she is at least .05! Then a man comes
running out of a nearby shop toward you saying
that his wife, who is heavily pregnant, has gone
into labour because of the shock. He asks you to
call an ambulance. But before you can, the gas
main ignites sending flames into the air and
spreading panic among the crowd causing
several to sustain injuries as they run from the
scene. You happen to notice that one of the men
rushing from the scene is a wanted criminal
whose photograph has been posted in your
station. By now, hundreds of people are shouting
to you and asking you to do something. How
would you proceed to bring things under control?
The ‘best’ answer was this one: “I would slip out
of my uniform, and get lost in the crowd.” I think
he might have failed the test!
As image bearers who wear the badge of Christ
in today’s society there will be many a time when
we feel the situation is just too hard, and when
we might like to slip out of our spiritual uniforms
and get lost in the crowd. The office talk is
getting rough; the after work party is sinking in
moral tone; the person we are with is taking the
Lord’s name in vain and we know that we should
say something; people are struggling and crying
out for help, and we have the answers but are
unable to speak! Maybe we fear the sceptic’s
tongue that says that our Christian values are old
fashioned, and our beliefs are incredibly stupid.
We know that inside the hearts of all people
there are deep unmet longings for love and
personal worth and significance. Our question
therefore is very similar to the one that was
asked of the would-be police cadets: What can
we do to be representatives of Jesus in our
immediate community?
The Bible speaks about ‘being conformed to his
image’ or being ‘transformed by the renewing of
our minds.’ Those six little words give the clue
about how we become image bearers. Our
external image is changed by an inner change
within our minds! Paul in his letter to the
Philippians writes, ‘Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus’. (Philippians 2:5) The
Psalmist put it this way in Psalm 51:10, ‘Create
in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right
spirit within me.’ To change our behaviour we
must first change our minds! Paul nails this
teaching about inside-out-change in Romans 11:
33 to 12:2. “Is there anyone around who can
explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him
what to do? Now this is what I want you to do.
Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture
that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead,
fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from
the inside out.” (MSG) “Be...transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to
know...what God’s will is – his good, pleasing
and perfect will.” (NIV) Following this inside-out
change, thoughts become actions, actions create
habits, and habits build character, and godly
thoughts create godly character.
Neuroscientists at the University of Ontario have
found a biological explanation supporting this
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