Anyone remember the old GI Joe PSA that would run at the end of the cartoon? One of the intrepid soldiers would explain to a youngster why they shouldn’t play in the street or handle spent nuclear rods or whatever…and then finish off with the pithy phrase “Now you know, and KNOWING is half the battle!” And of course – Lady Jaye or Duke was right. Half the battle – the other half is putting that knowledge into action. One without the other is useless or dangerous. Action without knowledge can lead to all sorts of misguided energy being spent – knowledge without action becomes an exercise in self-centric futility.

As Romans 12 began, Paul told us that God was in the process of renewing our minds – changing our thinking. There are things we learn and then know. But that’s only half of the thing. There must also be a practical outlet for our changed thinking.

We’ll be continuing our study in Romans this Sunday, reading 12:9-21 where Paul describes what the Gospel looks like in action.

As you read this section over, what do you see as the overarching theme? How do you reconcile the use of the command to “hate” in an instruction on love? In what ways do you think Paul means to hate evil, given the context?

Can you identify three different spheres of social involvement identified in these verses? What are the negatives, that is, what are the ways Paul tells us not to behave? In contrast, how are we to behave towards others, including those who want to be our enemies?

This is Paul’s description of how we live once our thinking has been changed by the Gospel. How easy or difficult is it for you to put the gospel into action in your own life? How can we as a church community be more proactive in putting the gospel into action in the world where we’ve been placed?

This will be both challenging and encouraging – hope to see you Sunday!