The Perils of Conformity, appropriated

O God, who knows and names every created thing,

We come together because we need you,

We need each other,

And we need to hear your word.

And if we hear it here,

May we be so possessed by it

That we become servants of it out in your world.

In Christ who was and is and is to come. Amen

Whatever else our faith is, it is a challenge. Wherever the Way of Christ leads, there is challenge. In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul frames this reality as concisely as is possible: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God. This instruction always appealed to me, at first, I think, because it seemed to suggest a kind of libertarian/intellectual approach to life’s challenges. Just wing it, it seemed to say, no matter what your boss or your teachers say, and you don’t really have to change your life, just your mind. It was the perfect religion for lazy prep school boys like me. I like it now because I realize that it means pretty much the opposite of that, that when Paul spoke of your "mind" he meant your conscious, intentional self—that part of you which makes choices, the part of you that keeps promises, the part of you that courses through the veins of the Body of Christ.

When Rev Sarah asked me to preach on this day, she generously offered to find a sermon for me to deliver, mindful that I have taken on this task fairly frequently in recent months and that I might want a break from sermon-writing. Of course I would have none of that, especially after I saw the lectionary—to offer thoughts on Paul’s challenge to the Romans was not a challenge I was going to pass up. So it’s odd in a way, that I actually am going to borrow someone else’s sermon. What follows are not my words, but their direction and source—which I will explain shortly—were so compelling that I couldn’t resist sharing them with you this morning. So where they don’t sound like me, that’s why, and where they do sound like me, I’m delighted.

The Perils of Conformity

Something is happening to the American people! There was a time when Americans enjoyed [actually enjoyed!] diversity of opinion; when the real zest in a discussion of political and religious matters depended upon the variety of opinions held by the participants; when the stubborn dissenter who rose in [the] meeting to uphold the opposition was the very salt of community life. In those days, the church that drew the biggest crowds was the church where the minister took the unpopular position, dared to challenge the unexamined ideas that blocked the doors of [his congregants’] minds. But not any more; the trend is in the opposite direction.

Millions of Americans fear nothing more terrible than to be identified with a position that stands out, setting them apart from other[s]. This is particularly true of . . .those Americans who must go through life with the embarrassing responsibility of a college education, and who are expected to make choices. . .the ambition of these “middle-brows” is to belong to something big enough to swallow up individual differences, ambiguous enough to include anything, and popular enough so that everyone will want to belong.

Furthermore, we are intensely suspicious of the individual among us who still insists on thinking and talking as he believes and standing for convictions that run counter to prevailing opinion. So great is our suspicion of these people that in many cases lately their civil liberties are curtailed, and their position in the community is jeopardized. . . [recently,] a government worker of long standing was dismissed from [her] position without a hearing and without explanation. When eventually the government agency was forced to explain its action it said that this employee had been charged with “favoring peace and civil liberties,” and ‘expressing convictions concerning equal rights for all races and classes” that “extend beyond the normal feelings of the average individual.” In short, despite [her] record of faithful service, [she] was dismissed from [her] job because [she] had different ideas and had the audacity to express them publicly. . .

Chiseled into the magnificent Jefferson Memorial [in Washington DC] is Jefferson’s creed: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” And yet if [Thomas] Jefferson were alive today and dared to bring his independent thinking to focus on the problems of our time, he would be under investigation by a dozen congressional committees at once. Why? Because across America today the tide of independent thought and courageous individualism is running out.

Nowhere is the peril of conformity more evident than among the preachers. . .Like the businessmen to whom they are presumably bringing their spiritual counsel, [many preachers] share the  great American delusion that one symbol of success is the size [. . .and shine. . .] of their car, and that the supreme badge of success is membership in the Rotary Club. . . When the confused American public turns to its preachers for one authentic word of truth, too often they are fed fluff and froth. . .if the church of Jesus Christ in America is to regain its power and our message its authentic ring, let the preachers [and the congregations] of America wake up to the perils of conformity!

Sooner or later, we Americans must make up our minds what we want. We can continue traveling down the road toward thought-control, business-control, freedom-control, until we land in totalitarianism; or we can pull ourselves up short and look for alternatives. We can surrender the light and let the darkness come billowing in, or we can keep our candles burning. . .The free spirit of [humankind] is engaged in a titanic struggle for survival, with vast forces. . . ranged on the side of conformity. Conform! they say. Fit into the mold! Forget the illusory phantom dream of self-fulfillment. Forget the fire and light. Huddle together and follow the leader!

[And yet, one voice]. . . can stir the consciences of [its neighbors] remind them of the basic principals of . . .human worth which underlie a livable world. [One voice can take up the Apostle Paul’s] summons to rise above the comfortable conformity of class and race and narrow nationalism, and become world citizens. [When we hear that voice], we must keep the fire burning. . .And we must not be deceived by those who tell us that the alternative to conformity is chaos. This is not so! . . . History has shown again and again that a whole civilization can be agreed on the wrong things and fail to see the one thing it needs to see.. . .Every Christian [must] submit themselves to this test: shall it be conformity, success, recognition? Or the constant renewing of the mind, the answer to the call of a higher authority, to a faith with power enough to [transform, first ourselves, and then the world?]

That meditation on the perils of conformity was originally a commencement speech at Crozier Theological Seminary. Perhaps you were struck, as I was, by the ways it addresses the spiritual and social fears and frictions of our times. But the speech was delivered in 1951. In 1951, 75 years ago, to an audience that included the young Martin Luther King, who went on to quote it more than once in his own writings and sermons. One might suppose that we had made some progress in seventy-five years, and perhaps we have in some ways, but the challenge to Christians from our scriptures seems to be something we needed then and which we still need.

The speaker was the Rev Dr Eugene Austin, my grandfather, who I never knew. That’s not really important, except that I have to cite my source and my cousin's recent discovery of it is the only reason I came across the speech in the first place. I hesitated to borrow it because I am not blind to an irony that we might be more aware of than his audience was; seriously: a cisgendered, middle-aged white man, a married Christian who pays his bills, drives a pickup truck, owns a gun, and generally follows the rules, ought not be lecturing anyone about embracing anything difficult. I get it.

But the thing is, when we engage with scripture we are being challenged to dip our hands in heaven’s waters by voices from all times; by voices which, like Christ's, were, and are, and are to come.  So there it is, the challenge: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God; and then act accordingly, without regard to what people might say.

Amen.