 |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||
|
To
Make A Difference, We Must Be Different
By Martin Schmaltz
In the market place, everything is about being different. Automakers advertise the different features that make their cars distinctly different from the competitors. Clothing designers have a distinguishing style that makes each of them different. Sports teams wear different uniforms to set them apart from the other team.
In our personal lives, most people want to be different. In discussions we speak of our achievements, degrees, awards, and dreams, all in an attempt to set us apart as different from those around us. Just look at the fashion of teens and 20somethings—they dress in such a way to stand out from the normal crowd. One of the negative factors in selling homes today is a neighborhood where all the homes look alike is people want to be different.
So with all this emphasis on being different: 1. “Why do so many Christians not
want to stand out?”
Look Like Them, Act Like Them .
. .
A few months ago, I had a great discussion with a couple of my pastor friends at Starbucks. The three of us were in agreement that if the church (now I mean the biblical church, not man’s) is to impact this world, we must be willing to step out and be different and act like the church. Another friend says: “If we want to see a book of Acts revival, we must start acting like the people/church of the book of Acts.”
There is a destructive myth in Christianity: in order to reach non-Christians effectively you must not be too different from them. If you are different you will shock or scare them. Therefore, what has happened to churches is that they are no longer distinct from those they are trying to impact. They look, act and speak the same as the secular world. Being like the group you are trying to influence gives the appearance that you have nothing different to offer them.
This stands in clear contrast to the teachings of Jesus. We are told that we are the “salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16). Why? Because just a little will make a powerful difference. A little salt is a powerful influencer: just think how little it takes to change the taste of your food! A little light is powerful. In total darkness you strike a match and now it is not totally dark. If others are in the room they will look and gravitate to the light. Salt and light are different and they make a difference.
Look Like Jesus, Act Like
Him
If we want to make a difference, we must be different. If we desire to impact this world with the Kingdom of Heaven, we must act or demonstrate our difference. Jesus’ first message was “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). The word “repent” means to change your thinking.
The Lord’s first message was not about going to heaven: it was about thinking different. It was about thinking from a Kingdom perspective. This transformed thinking would translate into Kingdom actions. If we think different we will be different, if we are different we will act different. If we are to make a difference we must be different.
The
question we must each ask ourselves—Is your life distinctly different
from those you are attempting to influence?
ninetyandnine.com Martin Schmaltz has been in ministry for over 13 years, empowering believers, challenging status quo, and re-imaging church. He travels frequently overseas and has ministered in Okinawa, Japan, Swaziland, Cape Town, the Philippines, and the Kingdom of Tonga.
|
|||||||||
