“We are not made to fit in. We are born to stand out”

As if drawn like a moth to the flame, avoiding offence, we Christians allow more and more without challenge until we can’t tell where the world ends and the church begins.

In an interview with Dave Cooper in 2010 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ejaw0F8-sY) Jim Caviezel (the actor who played Jesus in “The passion of the Christ”) said, “Set yourselves apart from this corrupt generation my brothers and sisters. We are not made to fit in. We are born to stand out”. His comment was adapted from a quote attributed to various people. He used it to encourage Christians not to compromise by trying to fit into the world’s system of values and beliefs, rather to stand out as people with a different way of being, thinking and acting.

Jesus had some things to say about our relationships with the rest of the world that closely align to the point that Caviezel was making. John 15:19 records: “19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you”. Jesus was saying to His disciples – because you follow Me you will be different, because you are different people will notice the challenge that you make to their life style and life choices and hate you. Furthermore, the previous verse says: ''18 If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you”. In other words, because the world hates Jesus and what He stands for the World will hate us because we are like Jesus.

Jesus is so clear about this expectation that in Luke 6:26 He says plainly: “26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets”. In other words, if “the World” has no quarrel with us, we should be concerned because it was fully Jesus’s expectation that this is exactly what would happen. Matthew 10:16-17 says “16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues”.

A significant proportion of the church today knows only too well what it means to be under direct persecution. Many of our brothers and sisters overseas face the possibility and/or probability of death every day or other sanctions in their daily life – threats, abuse, and violence. For them the pressure to “fit in” must be sometimes overwhelming, especially where close family members are threatened. So, what are we to think in the West about all of our attempts to show that we are modern, up-to-date members of society getting on well with everyone and giving no cause for offence?

2 Timothy 3:1-5 says: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away”! Paul says there will arise a form of Godliness not based upon the Word of God but upon worldly values which will sneak into our churches in apparently harmless ways. It will appear Godly, but will give no offence to the world and its values, and have no power. As if drawn like a moth to the flame, avoiding offence, we Christians allow more and more without challenge until we can’t tell where the world ends and the church begins. In other words, we have allowed society and cultural norms to determine what our faith is, and forgotten the price that Jesus, the Lord of all Creation, paid that we should be transformed. In our efforts to be “sinner friendly” we have become indistinguishable from “sinners”.

Here is the judgement of Jesus on the state of affairs where the church has replaced reliance on the Word of God with the traditions of men: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” (Matthew 15:8-9). It is distressing to observe traits at work in the western church where success can be counted in terms of numbers, offerings, buildings, published programmes, coffee and cake instead of Holy Spirit conviction, and leaders armed with education and theory, rather than the calling and equipping of the Holy Spirit. When Lester Sumrall met Smith Wigglesworth (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2NTZyQhuiM) he recounts that Smith greeted him at the door and asked him what was under his arm. When Lester said the daily paper, Smith told him in no uncertain terms not to bring it into his house saying that his house was a house of truth and he wouldn’t have lies brought into it. Then he proceeded to alternately read the bible and pray with Lester for about two and a half hours before giving him lunch and telling him to come again. Lester records that he at first wondered what on earth he had come to, but as he left a few yards down the street he realised that God had changed him through the encounter. Consider what our response might be today? Have you read this book or here’s a few good ideas that you might try or there’s a programme by XXX church that is very helpful… etc – but praying and reading the bible over a stranger for two and a half hours – doubtful?

So we are seeing the Western church apparently fitting in better and better to our current culture but being less and less able to give people an answer from the Lord for their lives, or demonstrate the power that is supposed to follow those who believe: Mark 16:15-18 says, 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” What a way to stand out!

Well why is this happening we might ask? Well a good chunk of Paul’s letters are devoted to warnings to the churches about those who had entered the fellowships without being born again and then proceeding to seek places of prominence. The impact was twofold. These people brought division to the fellowships and then corrupted the church families with erroneous doctrines. The impact was conflict and loss of freedom amongst the believers. For example in relation to religious Jews Paul writes in Galatians 1:6-7 “6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ”.

If warnings about allowing the gospel to be diluted and modified by people with their own agenda was one of Paul’s themes then another was to warn us about sin’s deceitfulness. This is a whole subject in itself but suffice to say that Paul reflected in 1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified”. The indication is that to stand out in spiritual terms we need to be awake, alert and watchful. We need to fight for the faith every day both individually and corporately and not be seduced by allowing into our lives seeds from the world’s values and mindsets which rob us of our power and freedom in Christ?

It is fashionable to follow the latest trends in church communicators and leaders, and worship leaders and worship songs. But I think that we can occupy ourselves with 1000 great sermons and the very “best” bible teachers, and know all of the latest songs and “fit in” very well with the world and not “stand out” one bit. Unless we do simply what God has told us to do and spend time with Him all of the rest will do us no good at all. We will not discern the seduction and we will not have the power to “stand out” – or maybe stand at all when our time for persecution arrives.

Author: Chris Pearson

May God bless and enrich your life

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