Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1917-05-23
RULE OF fashion
Christ's Followers AdmOniShed to
"Be Not Fashioned According
to This WorId"-Rom. 1872.

Most people want to be in fashion;
or, perhaps it is more correct to say
that most people are afraid to be OUT
Of fashion. The tyranny of fashion is
the greatest despotism which the
world knows. 1t enforces its dictates
without any code Of laws or any po-
lice to see that it is obeyed. 1t issues
new commands every little while, Tor
"the fashion of this world changetn."
Sometimes it appears to US to change
a little for the better; often we are
certain that the change is for the
worse.
The world upon which st. Paul
looked was also a world Of fashion.
He saw the people Of the cities OF
Athens, and Corinth, and Rome. Tne
luxury and fashion Of Rome have
never been surpassed, not even at the
present time. Paul is writing to the
Christians in Rome, and he is think
ing of the dangers Of that world OF
fashion and luxury, and he says: "Be
not conformed Cor fashioned), ac-
cording to this world" What did he
have reference to? Did he mean that
Christians should not wear the clothes
which were then in fashion? Perhaps
he meant that partly. No doubt st.
Paul objected to some Of the fashions
in clothing then, as am certain he
would object to some now.
Deeper Than Mere Clothes.
But fashion" goes great deal
deeper than that. There are fashions
in speech, in department, in living, in
conduct, in morals, and in religion, and
he says to the Christians, "Be not con-
formed to them" 1t is to these deep
er things which lie at the basis Of all
human conduct and life that Paul re-
fers when he says, 'Be not fashioned
according to this world"
When st. Paul lifted up his voice
against the fashion Of this world and
besought Christians to be separate
from it, he was thinking Of the i'm
posing paganism which surrounded the
early church. That paganism with it's
love of pleasure, its glorification Of
power, it's imperial pageantry, its idol
atrous temples, its sensual art and it's
seductive rites, cast its glamour over
the Christian converts and tempted
them away from their allegiance. The
world into which Christianity was
born was an unclean and leprous
world.
A Different World BUT the Same War.
But surely the world has changed,
ana everything which was written for
Christians in the first century does
not apply now. The spirit Of Christ
has counted for something through
nineteen centuries. The spirit Of So
ciety Is no longer arrayed in open hos
tility against the ethics Of Jesus Christ.
His followers are neither prosecuted
nor seduced according to the fashion
of former days, and it is not neces-
sary to preach the separation from the
then. But that does not mean that
there is no anti Christian world to-
day, or that Christians have no need
to watch and pray. 1t only means that
the war has changed its form, that it
has become subtler, that there is no
longer the clash Of sword and battle
ax, but the unseen danger of the bull
let and the shell. And so it may be
harder to withstand the fashion of this
world now than ever before, because
It's. evils are not so notorious nor con-
spicuous.
But man need not go to the extent
Of participating in the worlds open
sins and vices. He is fashioned ac-
cording to this world when he is so
taken up with his property, his pur-
suits, his schemes, his employment,
that he gives no time nor thought nor
interest to spiritual things.
Be Ye Transformed.
The apostle exhorts us to be "trans-
formed" The same Greek word is
used to describe the TRANSPORTATION of
our Lord A transformed life is a
transfgured life. The inward life, If
1t is healthy and true and strong, will
certainly shape the outward conduct
and character. Just as truly as the
physical life molds the infants limbs,
| just so truly will the renewed mind
make a fit dwelling for itself.
''Be ye transformed" We dream of
the transfgured life, the beauty Of it,
and how desirable 1t were to live such
life. But how shall we attain it!
We are not left in any doubt. "Be ye
transformed, by the renewing of your
| mind" 1t is the work Of the Holy
Spirit. The change must come from
within, and we must invoke spiritual
influences. 1t is all very we'll to cor
rect outward habits, but to be lasting,
to have any real value, the change
must be the result Of an inward grace.