2017-10-15 Being Different

Being Different: The Calling We Often Resist

There are some things from our youth we remember fondly, and some things we remember with a bit of a cringe. One of my personal cringe‑memories is bell‑bottom jeans. I hated them when they first arrived on the scene, but once everybody started wearing them, I got used to seeing them, and of course, wanting to fit in, I eventually wore them too.

Two things stand out in my memory about those jeans. First, they were long. The bottoms always dragged on the ground, so they became frayed and ragged, which was apparently “fashionable.” Some people even cut the hems off so they’d fray faster. Second, those jeans were heavy when wet. I grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, where we get about the same amount of snow as Buffalo. Go out in the snow wearing your lovely bell bottoms and they were instantly soaked, dragging through the slush. Once they froze, they felt like you were hauling around two icy sandbags. Not comfortable, but I guess you have to pay something to look fashionable.

The other thing from that era was the hair. It seemed like every girl had long, straight hair. I, unfortunately, had curly hair. I wanted that sleek, stylish look so badly. I tried everything. First came rollers, remember those? If you wanted straight hair, you needed the big ones. Soup‑can sized. So curly‑haired girls like me saved empty soup cans and rolled our hair up at night. It worked a little, but sleeping with cans pinned to your head was… memorable.

Then I heard about a better method: ironing your hair. Yes, ironing. I’d pull out my mom’s ironing board, heat up the old iron, stretch my hair across the board, cover it with a towel, and iron it flat. Can you picture that? Bent over the board, trying not to burn myself while wrestling my hair into place. That was me every morning.

Eventually I discovered hair straightener, basically perm solution you combed through your hair instead of rolling it. Finally, something that worked! But curly hair is determined hair. The curl always crept back, so I had to re‑straighten often. At last, I had long, straight hair like all the other girls… until the morning I woke up, sat up, and left about a third of my hair on the pillow. It had become so brittle from all the chemicals that it simply broke off.

I paid a price for wanting to be like everybody else.

Israel Wanted to Fit In Too

Our story this week begins with something joyful. A woman who had been unable to have a child finally has one. She dedicates the baby to God and gives him to the priest to raise. That baby was Samuel, who grew to become a priest, a judge, and a prophet. A triple threat! He came at a time when Israel desperately needed strong leadership. They were struggling with the Philistines, and corruption had crept into their leadership. Samuel was a good and faithful leader, and the nation began to settle down.

But Samuel grew old, and he turned the daily work of judging over to his sons. Unfortunately, his sons were not chips off the old block. They were corrupt and used their positions to enrich themselves. The people became disgusted and wanted change. A change was needed, but the solution they demanded was the wrong one. They asked for a king.

Samuel warned them that life under a king would not be what they imagined. A king would limit their freedoms, take their sons for his armies, and rule with authority that priests and judges never held. But the people insisted, and finally revealed their real reason:

“Then we will be like the nations around us.”

Israel had been led by priests and judges, ordinary people who consulted God in their decisions. Not all were perfect, but God was at the center of their national identity. Kings, however, didn’t need to consult anyone. Kings had crowns, armies, and riches. Kings were impressive. And Israel wanted to look impressive too.

But God wanted something better for them.
He wanted them to be different, to stand out, so that the world would be drawn to Him.

God wanted them to be different.
They wanted to fit in.

God’s plans don’t change. He still wants what’s best for us, and He still has an end in mind: living with Him in perfect peace and harmony. But our human nature often insists on choices that harm us. We eventually get where God wants us to go, but the road becomes longer and far more painful when we insist on our own way.

At the people’s insistence, and after speaking with God, Samuel anointed Saul from the tribe of Benjamin as Israel’s first king.

Saul certainly looked the part, impressive, commanding, everything a king was expected to be. At first, he seemed like a good choice. He was capable in battle and listened to Samuel’s guidance. But he was also impatient. Over time, he began to believe in his own greatness. He made reckless decisions. Eventually, he went too far, acting as though he were a priest and offering sacrifices himself. Because of this, his reign would not continue to his children. He chose to act like the pagan kings around him, and he paid the price.

Israel paid a price too. While there were a few good kings, most were worldly and led the nation far from God, into idolatry, corruption, and ruin.

What Being “Different” Really Means

When I say we are called to be different, I don’t mean dressing oddly like the Amish, or wearing long skirts, or adopting unusual customs. The difference God calls us to is not about appearance, it’s about behavior.

Kindness.
Fairness.
Integrity.
Morality.
Compassion.

These are the things that should set us apart.

Others should notice that we don’t gossip, complain about the boss, or backstab. They should see our respect, honesty, and loyalty.

Are we kind to the checkout person at the store?
Are we calm and forgiving when someone steals the parking space we’ve been waiting for?
Are we ready to help our coworkers?
Have people ever seen us praying for someone?

Jesus made this very clear:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:33-35

The world should look at us and see a people so loving, so devoted to one another, and so compassionate toward everyone else that they can recognize us as followers of Christ.

A Love That Stands Out

I’ve asked many Christians if they’ve ever spoken about Jesus to non‑believers. The most common answer I hear is, “I don’t have to. They can tell I’m a Christian by how I live.”

I must admit, aside from only two people in my entire life, I have never been able to identify a Christian simply by observing their behavior. I’ve known many nice people, many good people, but niceness and goodness alone don’t mean someone is a follower of Jesus.

The love we show must be noticeably different from ordinary love.

It is self‑sacrificing.
It is all‑encompassing.
It seeks justice.
It shows no favoritism, rich or poor, any skin color, any political view, any religion.
All are treated with respect, kindness, and genuine compassion.

I have a friend named Beverly who lived this out beautifully. Her children took karate at the same dojo I attended. One year an older man joined the classes. He was in his late sixties or early seventies. He had taken karate as a young man and wanted to return to it. But there was a problem, he was filthy, and his body odor was overwhelming. Students refused to take class if he was there. The entire dojo would reek when he walked in.

Then he lost his driver’s license. Suddenly he had no way to get to karate, to the store, or to his doctor appointments. Most of us were relieved. But Beverly understood Christlike love.

She offered to drive him to the store once a week and to his doctor appointments. She brought him to karate if he wanted to come. She picked up his clothes once a week, took them home, and washed them. She told me he was simply a lonely man with no one to love him, but she knew God loved him and accepted him as he was, and she said she needed to show him that love.

He respected only two women:
Beverly, because of her kindness.
And me, because once, when he came up behind me and put his arm around me, I put him on the ground in an arm bar that nearly broke his arm. I’m not proud of that. He admired my martial arts skills, but he came to know God because of Beverly.

She even brought him to church with her family, though she did tell him he needed to bathe before she picked him up.

She showed love to the unlovable.
Her example both humbled me and taught me.
Her love truly showed she was a Christian.

Hope That Shines in Dark Times

This kind of love is hard. We are human. We make mistakes. Some people irritate us. But if we call ourselves Christians, those around us must see love as our defining characteristic.

The world needs to see our desire to care for those around us, those in need, those who are suffering.
The world also needs to see our particular love for our fellow believers. They need to see our patience, our unity, our tolerance. This should be so noticeable that others want to join us simply to experience that kind of love.

Do we accomplish this? Honestly, I think we try, but we can always do better.

We should also have a hope and a positive attitude that makes us stand out from the world.

We live in frightening times, hurricanes, fires, mudslides, mass shootings, terrorism, economic instability, constant turmoil. But we, above all people, should have hope. We should never give in to despair, because we have a very real reason for hope.

1 Peter tells us that we will face troubles. We will be persecuted, mocked, or even physically harmed at times. But it also reminds us that we have Christ:

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
 1 Peter 3:15

Our reason, and our hope, is Jesus.
The certainty of eternal life.
The promise of joy with Him and with each other.

When we accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit came to live in our hearts. Through His power, we can deepen our love and learn to share that love and hope with the world.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (NLT) says:

“So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live…”

This is our goal:
To live in the world, yet be different enough that those who see us want what we have.
The better we are at this, the more people will turn to us and ask why we are loving and hopeful in such a chaotic world.
And then, maybe, we can make a difference in their lives too.