Called to Non-Conformity

I used to think that non-conformity was a bad thing.  I used to think that non-conformity meant being a rebel or a bad person.  I used to think that it was safer and easier to go with the crowd.  WRONG.

This past year has been a lesson in what it means to be a radical disciple of Jesus Christ.  It all began last winter at our church in Okinawa when all the community groups went through the book "Radical" by David Platt.  It's a book that changed my and Patrick's lives, and many others from what I've heard.  (Perhaps a book review will follow eventually.)  Nowhere in the Bible will you see Jesus talking about settling down into a nice big house with a picket fence, and living out your life in quiet oblivion.  Nowhere does He say that you should look out for your own welfare and safety above all else.  Jesus doesn't say it because that's not what Christians should be about.  We should be about sharing the gospel and bringing the salvation of Christ to the nations who haven't yet heard about Him.

God calls us to non-conformity.  Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  Why doesn't God want us to conform to the world?  Because the world doesn't know God.  "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him." (John 1:10)  We are to be people who seek God and love and obey him.  We are a people set apart from the world to bring glory to our Father.  1 Peter 2:9 tells us that, "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."  

Christians should be the epitome of non-conformity, or at least when compared with the rest of the world.  There should be a light that shines through us that is clearly different from the darkness all around us.        My constant prayer is that people would see something different in me and want what I have.  Any ounce of light that comes from me is not because of anything I did, but it is the work of Christ in my life!

So what does non-conformity have to do with being a radical disciple of Christ?  Plenty.  Jesus calls us to a life lived in antithesis to the world.  Where the world cares about health and wealth, we are to give up the material things of the world to gain that which is treasured in heaven.  We are to cast aside our anxieties and lay them at the foot of the cross.  We are not to be busy to the point of exhaustion, but sit at the feet of Jesus learning who he is and who he wants us to be.  But most importantly he calls us to GO.  Rather than store up for ourselves money and possessions on earth, we are to be willing to leave it all behind so we can go to the unreached people groups of the world and share the gospel.  That's pretty radical if you look at it through the eyes of man, but through the eyes of Christ this is what all christians should do.  We aren't supposed to keep the joy of the gospel to ourselves, but we are to share it with everyone around us!  When you look at the early church; the persecution and suffering, the boldness and preaching, these people wouldn't call themselves radical.  They would call themselves christians.

Somewhere along the way, we lost track of this idea of what it means to be a christian.  If being a christians means following Christ, even when it looks crazy to non-believers, I would stick with Jesus any day.  What about you?  How radical are you ready to be?