Dear Customers and Friends,

This is the last article we will be posting on “Let’s Talk.” Because of a steady decline in readership and interest, we have decided to discontinue this column. These articles will be archived and remain available at this site.

We want to thank Matthew and Erica for their faithfulness over the past twelve months. Their email is available below for continued correspondence.

—Silas Martin, Milestone Ministries

We find ourselves often in transition. As I write, we have just returned home from the hospital with Erica. (Our next baby was attempting to defy convention, and come into the world two-and-a-half months earlier than is customary.) Our time of writing these articles has drawn to a close. We are praying about the Lord’s will and directions for our family, and the entire world is groaning with birth pangs for the redemption of the sons of God. It can be said with all sincerity that life itself is transitory.

I was praying with some brothers just this morning and the Lord impressed upon me a nautical scene of a ship setting its course for a destination. As the wind and the waves push in every direction the lighthouse is a clear mark to fix the destination. My prayer was that God would lift up the Christ, in my life and yours. That we could fix our course steadfastly on Him. That as we navigate our lives we could keep our course pointed to the true North of Jesus Himself.

In every circumstance, in every temptation, in every decision, the will of God is that we would have confidence and courage that we can follow the path of Jesus, the way of the cross. I hope that you can be encouraged to lift up your eyes, open your ears, and follow the spotless Lamb all the way to the end of our sojourn.

I am extremely grateful to God for the opportunity to commit these ideas and thoughts to writing for the last year. I am extremely grateful to the brothers at Milestone Ministries for challenging me and forbearing with me as we have worked to present truth and reflect the heart of God. If any encouragement or insight has come to any from the words written in these articles, praise God! May He receive all the glory and honor and praise. It is the most sincere and earnest desire of every one of us who have been involved in this endeavor that you would walk steadfast in the faith. Commit yourself to the narrow path, and magnify the Lord Jesus in your hearts.

Thanks to all who have corresponded with us, who have opened their hearts and lives to us. Thanks to all who have blessed and encouraged us along the way. We are still available, and you can contact Erica and I at: matthew.milioni@gmail.com.

Oh, and just so you’re not worried about us, Erica and the baby are doing fine, and we are expecting our next baby to be healthy and safe.

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29).

I was wondering what it means to be conformed. What all is included in that process and how does it work? I’m not necessarily concerned here with the theology or abstract theory of sanctification. I’m wondering for myself what it means and how it works to be changed, or conformed, into the image of the Son.

Obviously, we know what that Image looks like. We have a clear testimony of how He lived and loved and acted in the world. We know the ways that we are not conformed to His image. If we are paying attention, we know the witness of our flesh when we are harsh with people, or manipulate the truth, or act in a dishonest way. We also immediately recognize the character of the Christ when we encounter it. So how do we engage in this process?

First, we need to see that being conformed to His image is the real purpose of our life. There has been a great amount of confusion and discussion about what predestination means, but here we are told clearly that the purpose of predestination is that we should be like Jesus. We are called to be like Him. We are not called to go to heaven or have a happy, wealthy, long life. We are called to be conformed to His image. To look like Him, to be a replica of Jesus. In all honesty, this is the purpose of our lives, dear ones. Anything that makes us less like Him distorts that image and anything that makes us more like Him clarifies that image.

It seems to me that we must recognize that there are things in us that must change in order to be conformed to His image. In other words, what is implied is that things about me are going to have to change to be more like Him. Jesus had a vested interest in challenging peoples well-established ideas about God and about Himself. Everything people expected from Him was wrong, but when He spoke or healed or cried, the honest and humble knew Him for what He was. This is the virtue I long most for in my life: the ability to follow Jesus into uncharted waters. The ability to follow Him, especially when He goes where I don’t understand or expect Him to go. I was talking with Erica about Him when we were alone. I told her that if He were to come as a man today we would totally misunderstand Him again. I wonder how many of us would reject Him because He wouldn’t conform to our image of Him?

This is the sad irony. I have many times wanted Jesus to conform to my image of what I think or believe He should be. I have wanted Him to support what I already believe or was taught growing up. I want Him to not care about things I don’t care about, and I want Him to care about the things I care about. This is not the way it should be. God wants the exact opposite; He wants us to be conformed to His image. He wants us to follow His lead, not force the Bible and the Christ to be like us.

God will use the Bible to reshape our views and our minds. He will use life, its ups and downs, to help us understand truth, and He will use chastisement and pruning to help us see clearly. He will encourage us in the Spirit and He will intercede for us to find grace. He is for us. Let us keep our eyes fixed squarely on Him, and soften our hearts so He may have His way with us for His glory.

Everywhere I go, there are these two forbidden subjects. In the restaurant, at work, at the doctor, at the bank, at family gatherings, and just about anywhere. Everyone tells me we don’t talk about religion and politics. This has always surprised me, and made me sad.

It surprises me, because these are really the only things worth talking about. People tell me these are private issues. I beg to differ. A person’s religious and political ideas are certainly some of the most personal issues, but they are anything but private. These are the two things that totally shape and direct our public life and behavior. The way a person thinks about God, shapes every aspect of the way we live. If there is no God, then there is no judge, and a person can do whatever pleases him. An impersonal higher power may want me to try to be “good,” but I can’t really know exactly what he wants. The creator God of the Bible has very clearly spelled out His expectations for mankind, and as Creator is worthy of obedience. Jehovah is a very different deity than Allah, Buddha, or Krishna. Whatever a person believes will direct how he thinks about and treats his fellow man. These differing ideas are the only things that really matter between my fellow man and I.

And what of politics? Politics are the ideas regarding how society should be ordered. Why this should be a forbidden subject escapes me. As Christians we have a well-defined politic that can literally change the world. We have a King that casts down every other allegiance and who has left mankind the best rules for living that could ever be expressed or followed. Political discussions can be complicated, but our politics begin with the Gospel and lead us to a kingdom and end in a resurrection. As committed kingdom Christians we have ideas about how men should live together. Just because I don’t vote, does not mean that Jesus didn’t have very important teachings about society. His teachings too, should be talked about in the open market of ideas.

So, how do we foster conversations about these taboo subjects? I think there are some important ground rules. We should understand that many people are in a shallow frame of mind. They want to talk about all the things that don’t matter: the latest highly-financed sporting event, the latest gadgets, the most recent episode of a T.V. Program–anything except what matters. I try to constantly steer conversations to the real issues. I try to find a moral (religious or political) issue in any topic. If the conversation at work turns to sporting events, I like to ask why sports are so important to people. What is it in man that wants to identify with a team, and why are men so emotional about something so disconnected from their real life?

Another issue, is that people are used to unrestrained emotions about religion and politics. For this reason, many avoid these topics. We must learn, as ambassadors, to be more diplomatic. To be gracious and kind. As the Bible says, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” (Col. 4:6). If we hope to be successful servants of our kingdom, we must find respectful ways to challenge the status quo, and draw people into conversations about religion and politics.