|
 |
| Dare
To Be Different
|
|
|
I have
always enjoyed Jim Henson’s Muppets. I was especially fond
of Kermit the Frog. His refrain was “it’s not easy being
green.” He’s right, you know. It’s not easy to be
different, to be distinctive, to be other than what the crowd
expects. You can expect criticism, even ridicule, if you take
a course that is not like those around you.
But being a Christian sometimes requires
it. You gotta be green to be a good Christian. Being different
in a world with clever magnetism and sparkling allurements it
hard. It speaks to almost every area of life and calls upon
Christ’s adherents to be removed from the crowd, to be
unlike the surroundings. In fact, the word church, in the
Greek, means “called out ones.” “Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world,” (I John 2:15), is
another way of saying you have to be different. And while a
person who is striving to serve God can easily see the sense
of being removed from the world, that doesn’t mean it’s
easy.
“Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them”
(I Peter 4:4) says quite a lot. It implies that your life will
be criticized if you do what is right, if you remove yourself
from the world and its playthings. It takes spiritual
fortitude to be what you ought to be today. Dare to be
different.
There are several areas, rather obvious ones, where the
Christian can’t be like everyone else. He must:
Dare to be different in speech. We are bombarded in
this era by the media. And the media has its own standard of
morality, its own set of rules for what is acceptable. It’s
everywhere–television, radio, newspaper, magazines, and
especially the internet. If we are not careful the media will
shape our language and influence how we speak, tell us where
to go, what to do, how to say things. It’s astounding how
the past generation’s vernacular and moral stances have
deteriorated toward immorality. The music we hear today, the
movies we see, the books we read in today’s culture would
not have been allowed just a few decades ago.
We as Christians must not be caught up in the maelstrom of
filthy, ungodly language so prominent in today’s culture.
James (3:8) tells us that the tongue is difficult to control.
Seeing that as true, we ought to give the more earnest heed to
make sure that we don’t just throw our minds into neutral
and let our tongues idle on. Further, he says that the tongue
can be used hypocritically, as well. Listen to him.
“Therewith bless we God and curse men, which are made after
the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. Brethren, these things out not to be.”
Colossians 4:6 calls on God’s people to “let your speech
be always seasoned with salt.” That addresses flippant
speech, needless conversation, and advises that a wise tongue
is necessary in the life of the Christian.
It’s hard, but we need to do it anyway. Dare to be
different.
Dare to be different in what matters in life. The
world is rushing headlong into pit of covetousness. We see it
in our recent financial crisis. People, it seems, will do
almost anything for money. It has become almost morally normal
for people to do unseemly things in order to make money. Do we
really believe that “the love of money is the root of all
kinds of evil”?
It’s easy to get caught up in this run for the money, hard
to repress the need to appear to be successful. But the
Christian must do just that. We may not be able to be as
affluent as our neighbors, but we can be honest. We may not
have sycophants around us, bowing to us and seeking our favor
on account of our riches, but we can work to have a reputation
of being morally sound and spiritually motivated.
Jesus never said anything much more applicable to our age than
what he said in Luke 12:15. “Take heed and beware of
covetousness, for a man’s life consisteth not in the
abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
It’s hard not to get caught up in the rush toward financial
success. But the end of that road is often disaster and ruin.
Remember, “you can not serve God and mammon.”
Dare to be different in goals and aspirations. It’s
important to have a good education. It’s important to have a
productive place in society. It’s important to do the best
we can, whatever we decide to do. But there’s great danger
in not having a right focus on what is vital in life. After
all, we spend our energies seeking whatever goals we consider
important.
I would not diminish the value of a good education, but I see
young people today who have letters appended after their names
that have no idea what the Bible teaches, and if they have a
religion, it is based primarily on tradition and not a
personal faith. “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye
transformed, by the renewing of your minds,” said Paul
(Romans 12:2). This mind’s renewal is quite necessary to
preclude our being too impressed with the world, and too
little impressed with the things of God.
Goals are what drive us. We all have them. We should “seek
first the kingdom of God” and our goals will drive us in the
right direction. Conversely, if we set goals for this life, we
will likely proceed along a course that is worldly, not
spiritual, or at the least, have a divided affection. The
Hebrew writer (12:1-2) said it well: “...let us lay aside
every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and run
with patience the race that is set before us, looking to
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” Now there’s
a goal worth shooting for, an ambition worthy of our total
dedication.
Yep, “it’s not easy being green,” but, after all is said
and done, it’s worth it.
Dee Bowman
|
|
Copyright (C)
2008
Southside Church of Christ
All rights reserved.
|
|
|
