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Social Conformity

Most of us become believers through the influence of those who are already Christians. It's normal that these Christians will draw new believers into the fellowship of which they are a part. Some become believers in the context of an existing connection to a local church. They’ve attended several meetings, have gotten to know people and, under this influence, cross the line from unbelief to faith. The majority of new believers become part of a local church at about the same time they become part of the universal Church.

It is a good thing for new Christians to be nurtured and nourished in the context of a local church. There, they will see what faith in action looks like as they see the faith of more mature Christians lived out in their daily lives. This is extremely helpful for the new Christian as he or she begins his or her own walk of faith. The New Testament authors assume that all Christians will be part of some kind of local fellowship.

However, there is a challenge which attends this early stage of development. Every local church has its own corporate culture expressed in its policies and practices. New believers have to learn to discern between social conformity to the group and genuine spiritual growth.

Social conformity is very attractive because one gets a lot of points for behaving in a way that it's acceptable to the group. To the degree that the church is a healthy one - a truly spiritual body reflecting God's values and purpose - there will be significant overlap between social conformity and spiritual growth. Sadly, in some cases, there's almost no overlap at all. The new believers becoming socially conformed to the group contributes little or nothing to his or her spiritual growth. In some cases, social conformity may actually have a negative impact on one’s spiritual development. This is because, as new believers get points for conformity, they may start to develop un-Christlike attitudes like pride and arrogance which contribute to spiritual weakness and decline.

To help us differentiate between social conformity and spiritual growth, we'll consider a few positive things about what really matters.

Spiritual growth is characterized by a growing love for the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “Christian” falls from our lips rather glibly these days. More frequent use of the expression “follower of Jesus” would remind us of what we are about as Christians. Being a follower of Jesus calls us to live out His values, to express His passionate love for people, and to enter into His devotion to the Father. Perhaps the biggest challenge for us is to follow His example of moment by moment conformity to the will of God. The growing Christian enjoys conscious fellowship with the Saviour and unwittingly, unitentionally is changed by the increasing intimacy.

Spiritual growth is also characterized by a growing love for God's Word – the whole Word, not just those that support denominational distinctives. This involves objective study so that the new believer can begin to understand what God is saying to him or her personally. New believers evidence a desire both for breadth and profundity of understanding as they seek to apply the Scriptures to daily life. Spiritual growth is not marked by one's ability to use the word of God to argue a particular theological point of view. Rather, it is characterized by the absorption of the Word of God into the person’s life so that it affects the thinking process. It shouldn't just affect the way you talk, but it should change the way you live.

Spiritual growth is also marked by a growing love for God's people. Beware the danger of becoming enamored of the people in your circle, while developing disdain for those outside of that circle. God's family is large. It embraces all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and are filled by His Spirit, empowering them to live the life of faith. Look for genuine affection for all of those who acknowledge Jesus as their only source of spiritual life and only hope for eternity in God's presence.

Spiritual growth will also be accompanied by increasing love for people in the world - evidenced particularly by a hearty concern for their spiritual welfare. Regardless of how one’s personality might manifest itself, whether as an extrovert or introvert, the true believer both has a concern and expresses a concern for those who do not yet have spiritual life. We become prayerful for those who do not know Jesus yet. We become increasingly willing to speak to them frankly and directly about their spiritual state.

These are four things you can look to as benchmarks for your spiritual growth. Social conformity does not count with God as He moulds us into the image of His Son. Being able to argue a position, submitting to a set of cultural rules (even if they are biblical), developing the correct use of a particular vocabulary, adoption of a particular look or style, matter nothing to God. He is looking for the likeness of His well-loved Son in the inner life and the expression of that likeness through the outer life.

Ron Hughes
© March 2007