The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1917-04-19
RULE OF FASHION
christ'S Followers AdmoniShed to
'Be Not Fashioned According
to This WorId"-Rom. 1872.

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, for
'the fashion of this world changeth."
Sometimes 1t appears to us to change
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. The
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 1 am certain he
would object to some now.
Deeper Than Mere Clothes.
But fashion" goes a 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 its
! love of pleasure, it's glorifcation of
power, it's imperial pageantry, its idol
atrOus temples, its sensual art and its
seductive rites, cast its glamour over
the Christian converts and tempted
them away from their allegiance. The
world into w.lich Christianity was
born was an unclean and a leprous
world.
A Different World But the Same War
But surely the world has changed
and 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 1t is not neces
sary to preach the separation from the
world which was almost compulsory
then. But that does not mean tina
there is no anti-Christian world to
day, or that Christians have no neeC
to watch and pray. 1t only means tina
the war has changed its form, that /
has become subtler, that there is m
longer the clash of sword and battle
ak. but the unseen danger of the bul
let and the shell. And so it may b
harder to withstand the fashion of thi
world now than ever before becaus
its evils are not so notorious nor con
spicuous.
But man need not go to the exten
of participating in the worlds ope
sins and vices. He is fashioned az
cording to this world when he is s
taken up with his property, his pun
| suits, his schemes. his employment
| that he gives no time nor thought nc
| interest TO spiritual things.
| Be We Transformed.
| The apostle exhorts us to be "tran
| formed The same Greek word
1 used to describe the TRANSPORTATION {
/ our Lord. A transformed life is
| TRANSPORTED life. The inward life.
| it is healthy and true and strong, wi
1 certainly shape the outward condu'
| and character. Just as truly as ii
| physical life molds the infants limb
4 just so truly will the renewed min
make a fit dwelling for itself.
/ BE We transformed" We dream
the TRANSPORTED life, the beauty of
and how desirable it were to live sue
a life. But how shall we attain il
- We are not left in any doubt. "Be J
z transformed, by the renewing of yol
= mind" It is the work of the Ho
2 Spirit. The change must come fro
\ within, and we must invoke spiritu
z influences. 1t is all very well to co
y rect outward ndDltS, out TO De laStin
Z to have any real value, the chanl
\ must be the result of an inward grac
Z The Pharisees were most correct
\ their outward conduct. and Jesus Ii
Z ened them to whitewashed sepulche
= which outwardly are clean, but with
Z are full Of rottenness.
= The real secret Of the transfigurt
< life is the transfused life, having
\ source in Jesus Christ and flowing in
Z every vein and artery of our being, u
= til we shall be fashioned like the 81
y Of Mon