Abstract
Roman 12:1–8 is a highly potent Pauline passage about Christian life in relation to contemporary cultures. It is preached and referenced so often that listeners may have preconceived ideas about what the text means and calls for, and some verses may overshadow others in the minds of many. Several strategies for engagement are worth considering.
In the text’s most familiar, opening lines, Paul urges believers to present their bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (v. 1) as their spiritual worship. Moreover, they are not to be “conformed to this world,” but rather “transformed by the renewing of” their “minds,” so that they “may discern what is the will of God” (Rom 12:1–2). If one reads further, Paul goes on to articulate values that embody a transformed, renewed mind and the divine will—and they are decidedly countercultural ones, such as not thinking of ourselves “more highly” than we ought to think (v. 3).
Thus, one possible way to invite a congregation into reflection on the passage is to identify current socially acceptable but dehumanizing norms that characterize much of our common life. In an age when bragging and boasting are norms, accepting one’s vulnerability is abnormal. When arrogance becomes a celebrated norm, “sober judgment” (v. 3) is an anomaly. In an age of self-glorification, honoring others appears strange. Indeed, in a world where individuals seek respect by despising others, honoring others (v. 10) is a rare virtue. In a society where relationships are often viewed and defined in hierarchical terms, viewing others as equals, each with essential gifts to offer for the wellbeing of all (vv. 4–8), is naïve.
Another strategy seeks to identify the relationship between social values and religious practices implicit in the admonitions in the text and in other chapters. Postcolonial interpreters have demonstrated that imperial culture influenced every layer of society in the first-century world, even relationships within the church. The metaphor of one body has been interpreted as the social hierarchy, with the emperor at the top and slaves at the base. The norms and values Paul urges believers to embody as living sacrifices to God are every bit as countercultural in our own day as they were in his. The fact that Paul needs to admonish believers not to think too highly of themselves clearly implies that they are in fact overrating themselves and undervaluing others in order to earn social respect from their peers. Moreover, the first-century Roman church apparently was living with a great deal of multicultural tension between Gentile and Jewish Christians (cf. Rom 14:1–15:13), not altogether gracefully, with both “judging” and “despising” behaviors on full display.
A third strategy for engagement would be to consider the lives of saints—both contemporary and ancient ones—who in various ways embodied devotion to God and discernment of the divine will (v. 2), thereby resisting conformity to the world and defying oppressive or hateful practices in their own times and places. Several come to mind. First, in the context of increasing Christian-Muslim hostilities in his country and around the world, Sheik Osman Sharubutu, the chief national Imam of Ghana, participated in the Easter Service at Accra’s Christ the King Cathedral in 2019, a day which also happened to be his birthday. To the dismay of some of his co-religionists, Sheik’s presence articulated an embodied message of peace congruent with his faith tradition. Second, in January of 2019, Hindu women resolutely entered a popular Hindu shrine in Sabarimalai, South India, in another public, embodied act of defiance. Customarily, women of menstrual age are prohibited from entering the shrine, but seeking the divine will, these women determined that the time had come to resist this centuries-old norm by presenting their very bodies as living sacrifices, entering sacred space as part of their spiritual worship. Third, many Israeli Jews are mightily resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestine, seeking a just resolution to an intractable conflict. They risk being labeled traitors by their co-religionists and fellow citizens. In sum, saints throughout history have provided countless illustrations of what it means to embody living sacrifice, full devotion to God as their spiritual worship, by resisting conformity to social norms and cultural proprieties in order to live into their discernment of the divine will that is good, acceptable, and perfect. Indeed, heroes and heroines of faith exist in every religious tradition.
As a preacher, I am inclined to focus on three exhortations in the passage: First, Paul urges Christians in Rome to present their bodies as a living sacrifice. He employs an image celebrated by some and looked down on by others in order to accentuate the need for embodied discipleship. In an imperial context, the offering of one’s body as a living sacrifice ritualizes resistance to the empire. Feminist commentators also have highlighted the importance of bodies in the life of discipleship. Our bodies matter to God. They are spiritual shrines (cf. 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19). Empire makes claims upon our bodies, but so does the gospel. Thus, bodies are sites of social conflict and of resistance as well. Dominant forces in every time and place seek to control bodies, to dictate how they are to be used (and not used), when they are to work (and not work), how they are to look (and not look), with whom they are to sleep (and not sleep), and when they are to procreate (or not). Major social controversies in both Paul’s world and our own center on bodies. In a world of claims and counterclaims upon our bodies, Paul urges us to offer them in full devotion to God, bearing a countercultural witness to dominant expectations. That which is physical is also both political and spiritual.
Second, the “reasonable” or “spiritual” worship (logikēn latreian in Greek) of which Paul speaks in v. 1 is always potentially treasonable, for it entails nonconformity to the values of this world and transformation by the renewing of our minds. Minds matter. They are the sites of conformity and they can become sources of transformation. Without Spirit-inspired critical thinking, Christians fall prey to the norms of the age. But continual and critical reflection on present cultural norms and practices—communal discernment of God’s will empowered by the Spirit—will reveal what is good, acceptable, and perfect, thereby transforming our lives, renewing our minds, and inspiring bold, persistent, and embodied witness and resistance.
Third, Paul exhorts disciples of Jesus Christ not to think of themselves “more highly” than they ought to think, but to think with “sober judgment” (v. 3). Were those whom he first addressed drunk with, or hungry for, power? Such desires continue to be on full display in our own time and place. Paul invokes the grace he received in pleading for much more sober judgment. Interestingly, he does not invoke his apostleship as he does on other occasions. Instead, Paul accentuates the egalitarian values of the gospel—of “the one body in Christ” (v. 5). He has received grace and gifts, and so have all other believers. Paul locates himself on the same level as others, for all have been blessed, but differently, by God. We are not to rank-order the measures of faith which we have been allotted. Each gift has a different function, none better than others. These gifts are to be shared in the one body of Christ. The image of body and many members resonates with Paul’s use of the same striking metaphor in 1 Cor 12:12–31. However, there is no mention of a head of the body in this text (such as we find in Colossians and Ephesians), thereby accentuating the egalitarian nature of God’s household. The gifts, which are varied, include service, teaching, exhortation, generosity, and providing aid and care. No one has all the gifts, but all the gifts needed for the church’s life and ministry in the world are present in the one body in Christ. The accent on love, respect, hospitality and care in vv. 9–13 sheds light on how we are to use our gifts. Paul’s poetic and prophetic call to exercise our God-given gifts might be an appropriate concluding note.
When considering gifts, few people have shared their own remarkable talents as fully and effectively as Katie Geneva Cannon. This essay is dedicated in loving memory to a saint of the church and academy, who constantly encouraged others to cultivate their gifts and “speak their truth.”