Industry standards require conformity.

I learned this morning that Robert Zildjian the founder of Sabian Cymbals died this week.  He was 89 years old.  Zildjian and Sabian cymbals have been used by bands and orchestras for years.  The process used by the family business was a closely guarded secret discovered by Avedis, an Armenian alchemist of the 17th century.  Seeking to turn bronze into gold, Avedis found a way to combine copper, silver and tin into ingots that could be beaten into a thin disc of metal.  We’ve been enjoying their cymbals ever since!  Last year over 900,000 Sabian Cymbals were shipped around the world.

You can be sure each cymbal conformed to a standard!  And that’s a good thing.

Conform.

In God’s view of us He sees that we are under pressure to conform to the world.  And that is not a good thing.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  Romans 12:2

Conformed.  Pushed into the world’s pattern, mold, shape.  This is especially problematic when held up to the pattern of Jesus Christ.  We are to conform to Jesus.

By God’s grace, culture and societal standards can benefit us with much that is good and leans toward the values of the Kingdom of God.  However, culture and society do not completely embody God’s vision for us in relationship to Him, each other, ourselves, and the stuff of earth.  When we are animated by the Gospel we will discover that the Word of God creates resistance in us toward the shaping pressure of the world.  Then we become

non-conformists.