One little phrase, two small words: living sacrifice. This is Paul’s first application, his first exhortation to us in Romans 12 after eleven chapters of theology. To be a living sacrifice is an oxymoron. By definition, a sacrifice is something that has died and is no longer living. To make matters worse, a sacrifice always benefits other people. The reward for being a sacrifice is death. It is therefore self-denying. It gets worse yet again. To be a “living” sacrifice implies dying over and over again. We like to jump to the part about renewing our minds, which sounds far more appealing, but Paul is saying, as the rest of the chapter makes clear, that the main way we renew our minds is with an attitude of self-denial and serving others.

This is surely a main reason why Christianity is such a stumbling block to those outside and such a challenge to those within. The main point is self-denial and serving others. Where does an ambitious person go with that? Not far. What does a proud person do with that? Not much. We love to be on the receiving end of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, but we struggle with the “Go and do likewise.” To be a living sacrifice means daily self-denial, putting others before ourselves, and obeying all the impossible commands listed in Romans 12:9f. This is totally contrary to human nature. Its like a person would need to be born all over again to live this way. Being born again means living life under a totally contrary and different mindset, one that is so foreign to human nature that making the switch is considered a brand new existence. Most Christians I know, including myself, are born again in theory but in practice – not so much.

What you don’t see anywhere in Romans 12 is Christian triumphalism. It is to live by dying, to win by losing, to succeed by failing. To be in the presence of a living sacrifice, someone truly born again, is a rare and awesome experience. They are there for you, they are present in the moment, they are seeking God’s best for you. They have gotten over themselves. Many of us are too busy making something of ourselves to invest this way in others. The good news is that we don’t have to go on a search for self-denial and serving others. Opportunities for such beckon on a daily basis. Its a school that is always in session, though with few interested students.