Thursday, November 08, 2007

Do Not Be Like Them

This weekend in Florida, I will be challenging the people with some of the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount. I continue to be struck by the radical nature of Jesus' description of life in His Kingdom. I agree with John Stott who says he thinks the Sermon could be summed up by Matthew 6: 8: "Do not be like them."

I don't mean that in a cultish sense. We are not to be different from the world because we dress weird or do our hair in some strange way. That's OK, but that's not Christlikeness. We're not to be different because of political positions we choose to champion. We're not even to be different because of some point of doctrine that we think makes us stand unique. That is not what Jesus is calling us to.

Jesus is calling us to be different because we choose to live His values. We are to be different because we take on His worldview. It is radical. It is different. It looks weird, and it feels weirder. It's countercultural. And it stands out like a sore thumb.

Or in Jesus' words, it stands out like salt and light.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to hear what you have to say. You and Bev be safe and I'll see you tonight.

Jeff said...

"Am I different from the world?" is a question I continually ask myself because far too often, I don't feel so different. I know God will use both of you this weekend and that many people will be stirred to make their lives more Christlike.

jenny biz said...

This is something that Malaya and I have talked about lately b/c it can be confusing to such a young mind but I am grateful she is interested!! My example will speak to her the most. I want to love like Jesus loved but be bold in my obedience. I pray I can teach Malaya that balance. I pray she is "different" and "weird".:)