The Odd One Out
by | Posted on July 2nd in Pastors thoughts
In my experience, my friends, family and neighbours are happy for me to be Christian… as long as I keep my faith in Jesus a private matter; that I never speak about Jesus to them, and never disagree with their lifestyle choices. I feel the pressure to implicitly endorse their morality and adopt their life dreams and agendas.
But the bible says our faith changes how we speak and relate to our world. Christians are ‘God’s elect, strangers in the world’ (1 Peter 1:1). We have been born again into a different living hope, with a different eternal inheritance, knowing God as our heavenly Father. As His children, we will seek to become more like our Father. We will be different to the world around us. We will always be the odd ones out.
In the face of our world’s pressure to be like them, we need to trust our good and sovereign God. He wants the best for us.
This means 1. Be convinced of the truth of what we believe. He tells us what he thinks is best for us. We will listen to our Father’s words to know his will better.
2. Be confident God will work things out for our good. Know the costs of your choices. But don’t let your fear of the consequences cause you to back down.
3. Its inevitable we will suffer in this life. Standing out from the crowd and following Jesus will cost. So don’t grumble.
4. Instead pray to our almighty God for the strength to obey him when it hurts
5. Live out your convictions. Act to please our Father not men.
6. Be prepared to make sacrifices to advance God’s purposes.
7. Be gracious.
8. Boldly speak up about Jesus. Don’t be intimidated into silence. We want people to know life with Jesus.
9. Point to Jesus as the reason for our actions. We want people to see we’re acting as His people and not just as good people. Then they can’t dismiss our choices as personal preference, but instead need to grapple with Jesus.
10. Show what is good about following Jesus. Jesus isn’t a killjoy. Being kind, honest, trustworthy, and compassionate are desirable characteristics.
What else can you see it means to trust God in an indifferent and often hostile world? Or perhaps you’d like to share with us your experience of how God has strengthened you in the face of suffering…
August 5th, 2010 at 1:18 am
How true it is that the world doesnt want us believers to speak favourably of the gospel and our Lord. That fact confirms that unbelievers pressure us to be just like them — to be as godless ones who never speak positively about the gospel or the Lord.
We are both chosen and called to follow Jesus, and to carry our cross daily as we die to our selves. Your 10 points, Dave, represent a great reminder of what it means to live as spiritual people transformed by the presence of God in our lives. And we can only live out his life through us effectively by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit in all his fullness, the same Spirit with whom Jesus baptises us who believe.
Dave, thanks for the article.