Be Different Stay Different

In school, the worst thing we could do was be different. We wanted desperately to fit in, to be accepted, to be part of the “in” crowd. In 1965, the song written by Billy Page and sung by Dobie Gray titled “The In Crowd” had the lyrics, “I’m in with the in crowd, I go where the in crowd goes; I’m in with the in crowd, and I know what the in crowd knows.”

A year before this song came out,

I was elected as my high school senior class president, and I thought I was the coolest cat on campus. That was a part of my BC days that I look back on now and wonder what God saw in me that was worth pulling me out of the mess I had made of my life six years later. By that time, I had been in and out of the army during Vietnam, was hanging with the wrong crowd, and had no plans for my future. Fortunately, God did.

I got saved, went to Bible school, met my wife Linda, had four beautiful children, moved across the country several times, each time for a better position and more money. Sadly, I let it go to my head, and God had to take me to the woodshed. I started different, but I didn’t stay different.

With all the sincerity I can muster,

may I say that sometimes God’s love hurts. He wanted me back with His in-crowd and had to get my attention through some painful experiences. But looking back, I can also say it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. God always gives us enough rope to roam, but there will come a time when He yanks it back. I don’t ever want to force Him into “parent mode” again.

The Bible tells us more than once that God wants us to be different. Jeremiah 51:45 says, “Come out from her midst, My people,” referring to Babylon on the verge of God’s judgment. In 2 Cor. 6:17 God gives the same command, “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord.” Here is an admonition to “…not be bound together with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14).

Paul writes to the Corinthian church,

“When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11).

Throughout Scripture we’re commanded to live differently from the non-believing world, to be light in their darkness showing them the way to a relationship with Jesus Christ. If we keep one foot in the world, talking like the world, living like the world, and one foot in God’s kingdom, that can paint the picture of a hypocrite rather than a righteous man whose citizenship has been transferred to heaven.

In John’s record of the last days on earth,

he reports the last command from Jesus Himself, “Let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness, and the one who is holy still keep himself holy. Behold I am coming quickly and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done” (Rev. 22:11).

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to be different from the world. When the world sees that difference in our lives, they have one of two reactions. They can continue in their rejection of Jesus’ saving work on the cross and scoff at the truth and mock us, or they can be drawn to Him for a life-changing experience that assures their place in heaven. Let’s make sure that we are different because of our salvation and that we stay different until Jesus calls us home.

If you’re reading this and are not, but want to be different,

turn to the appendix Steps To Salvation for a step-by-step plan of action to transfer your citizenship to heaven. Thanks for reading.