BINGE JESUS.

This message can be found on shirts and hats promoting the popular TV series, “The Chosen”, about Jesus and his disciples. Beyond just a great marketing campaign, the “binge Jesus” message cuts to the heart of perhaps the most significant factor affecting our spiritual and emotional formation: what we consume.

We know that what we eat directly affects our physical health. The same is true of what we watch, hear, read, and intake in other ways, on our spiritual formation. “We become what we behold,” as poet William Blake once wrote.

I’ve been pondering this a lot lately. An analysis of my daily habits is sobering: I average two hours a day on my phone, the two largest chunks of which are spent on games and “Information and Reading.” That’s almost all news articles or searches for funny (and often inappropriate) content on BuzzFeed. Then there is nightly TV, routine visits to find interesting things on YouTube, and sports radio during commutes.

If I’m honest, I probably consume 5-6 hours of media daily. And this doesn’t even consider the often-unnoticed messages constantly peppering me, from billboards on the road to pop-up ads on just about every website (even the Bible reference site I used to research the above verse).

Meanwhile, I often lament that my reading of Scripture is infrequent and rushed because I’m “so busy.” In reality, I’m making choices, even when unaware of it.

The word conform in Romans 12:2 describes precisely what happens as a byproduct of this consumption. The Greek word is suschematizo, a combining of the words sun, meaning with, and schema. This word schema might be familiar as an English word meaning “conceptual framework” (dictionary.com).

In other words, we go with the framework of the world, which in our day is increasingly driven by economics and naturalism. We’re fed, subtly and not-so-subtly, the story that the physical world is all there is, and a data-driven, AI-optimized stream of content curated to keep us scrolling, watching, feeling certain emotions, and eventually purchasing. We’re being conformed. You might even say discipled.

In contrast, transform in Greek is metamorphoo, as in metamorphosis—to change from one thing to another. The same word is used to describe what happened to Jesus in the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13).

What we consume leads to one of those two ends: conformation or transformation.

This isn’t to say we should swear off all media and become hermits. The encouragement is to be thoughtful and wise, knowing what our often-passive consumption is actually doing, and to be intentional to form habits that transform us by renewing our minds: Scripture reading and meditation, Christian community, solitude and prayer, and more.

Forming new habits and breaking old ones isn't easy. I’m encouraged to be intentional to move from conformation to transformation, and I invite you to join me. We do it not to earn God’s favor, but, in the words of the preceding verse, “in view of God’s mercy” (Romans 12:1) — his great love that moved him to rescue us through Jesus.

Lord, I acknowledge that I am being shaped by so many influences that do not aim to help me become more like you. Open my eyes to see how I’ve been conformed to the world, and lead me to sources of your transforming work so that I might walk in your wisdom and ways. Mold me through them to be who you want me to be. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Throughout This Day: Take a few moments and read the following verses. As you go through the day, reflect on how each speaks to how you are “transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

Additional Resources: The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Earley and Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren are two helpful books on forming new habits and breaking old ones.



Tags: The Life Devo Romans 12