Dharius Daniels - Culture's Way Ain't It

Don’t be a Plato in the hands of culture. What does that mean? It means Paul is telling them, «Listen, are y’all ready for this?» He’s saying, «Do not make decisions regarding how you’re going to manage your life based on the patterns and trends that are popular in culture.» He says, «Look at what culture is doing relationally; don’t conform to that. Do not give up your values and your virtues for a Coke and a smile.» He says, «Look at what culture is doing financially; don’t be conformed to that. Look at what culture is doing professionally; don’t be conformed to that, because I have another way, and my way is not just right; my way is better. If you do it my way, I’ll open doors no man can shut. If you’re doing it my way, I’ll close doors no man can open. If you do it my way, I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. If you do it my way, no weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that rises in judgment, God shall condemn.» He said, «I want you to do it my way because there is a way that seems right unto man, but in the end, it leads to destruction.» This is one of the reasons Paul also quotes an Old Testament writer when he says, «And the just shall live by faith,» because it takes faith to not be conformed. Did you hear what I just said? It takes faith to make the decision that you are going to resist the seduction, the pressure, and the urge to do it the way they do it. Throughout Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, we see examples of individuals who actually did this. Daniel is one of them. The Hebrew boys are an example of this. The Scriptures tell us that Daniel was hired to work in a pagan kingdom, and there was a process that they took all those who worked in that kingdom through to prepare them for their service to that administration. Part of that process involved eating a diet that would violate Daniel’s religious convictions. Daniel told the people there, «You do it your way, and let me do it God’s way, and see at the end of this process who comes out looking better.» The Bible says Daniel looked so good! Let me just put it this way: I want to contemporize and «Danielize» this text. I said Daniel’s swag was so tight, his skin was so bright, that the people looked at what he was on and started questioning, «What kind of regimen is that?» I want to tell you, if you have faith to resist culture’s way and do it God’s way, not only will you come out like they came out, you will come out better than they came out. Somebody open your mouth and say «better!» I just speak that over you this summer: better in your relationships, better in your job, better with your kids, better in your heart, better in your mind. Better is on the other end of God’s way. Paul says, «Resist the temptation to be conformed to the way they do it.» Boy, if I had a little time, I would dig a little deeper there, but I got time today, 'cause you got time, I got time. Watch this now! I want you to catch this. This is, in essence, what I taught some of you who’ve been rocking with me for a while years ago in a series I did called «Water Walkers.» This series was based on a principle I called the principle of exception. What was that principle, Pastor? Here it is: What happens with them does not dictate and determine what happens with me. I said, «What happens with them does not dictate and determine what happens with me.» In other words, previous patterns are not an accurate indication of future possibilities. You can’t look at what happened to other people like me and determine what’s possible for me. You can’t look at what happened to other people my age and tell me what’s possible for me at my age. You can’t look at other people of my gender and tell me what’s possible for me with my gender, because God is the God who makes exceptions, and you’ve got to believe in exceptions to resist the temptation to conform to culture. Say, «I’m not going to do my relationships that way, because I don’t want the kind of relationship most people in culture have.» Am I making sense? All right, watch this now! So, he says, «Don’t be conformed to this world,» but then he says something right here that messed me up. He says, «But be transformed by the renewing of your mind.» Now this messed me up, because he’s talking to people who are already saved. It’s like he’s saying there are some limitations in your transformation until there is a renovation of your mind. I’m going to say it again: he’s talking to people who have already been washed in the blood of the Lamb. He’s talking to people whose names are already eternally written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He’s talking to people who, when they pass away, are going to go to a land where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary shall be at rest. He’s talking to those people and telling them, «Now, there are going to be some limitations to your transformation until you experience the renovation of your mind.» Did you hear what I just said? Which means—this is interesting—this renewing or renovation. I literally had a friend in Charlotte who had started…