Mixed with the World

"They did no destroy the peoples 

as the LORD had commanded them,

but they mingled with the nations

and adopted their customs."

Psalm 106:34-35

God is not a violent God who is bent on ethnic cleansing, holocaust, or holy war.  It may seem like He is dedicated to the destruction of "infidels," those who don't adhere to His ways.  In reality, He is a Father who is jealous for His children.  He knows the way He made things to work best, and life is better when He is the head, the highest priority, the only God.  This is why He set His people apart in times of old, knowing they would easily become just like everyone else and forget Him.  He wanted His people to remember they were the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3).

Nothing much has changed.  Sure, I don't walk around in sandals and robes, but my heart is no different from the Israelites'.  I am easily swayed, lured away by the fleshly attractions of this world.  But I am called to live in the world but not of it (John 17:16, Romans 12:2).  Still, I am like the world in many ways.  Oh, how this grieves God.  He has set me apart for His purposes, to be salt, to make a difference.  If I lose my saltiness, my unique quality as His own, what influence for Him will I have (Matthew 5:13)?

I must stand firm, then.  Even though it seems impossible, it is not.  I can do it through the strength that comes in my bond with Christ (Philippians 4:13)!

Idol Worship.  Celebrities.  Technology.  Education.  Sex.  Rights and freedoms.  Tolerance.  Political correctness.  There are as many idols in this culture as there are days in a year.  When living in this society, it's easy to start believing the propaganda that is constantly bombarding my senses.  

I walk into the grocery store and the details of the lives of "stars" accost me and I suddenly become drawn into the drama, as if they are somehow different or more important than the ones suffering all around me.  As I shop, I discover flesh leaping out at me from all angles until I am no longer shocked by the cleavage, tiny outfits, and tightly-garbed female forms that are used to sell almost every product.  I notice that many have bought into this way of dressing, exchanging cute and fashionable for sexy and risque.  People are rushing around, hurrying through their lives as they try to fit school into their already busy schedules, thinking that a degree is their great, white hope.  Meanwhile, children are left to raise themselves, their lives devoid of meaningful parental contact.

Jesus died to give me more than this kind of life!  He gave His life so I could live the life I'm meant to, where God is what draws my attention at every moment, where sexuality is meant for a husband and wife, where God is the one who holds the blueprint that gives me hope for my future.  My life works better when I center it around Him and let His truth set me apart from everything else (John 17:17).

To avoid being mixed with the world, I must resist worshiping anything else besides the one true God.

Cheapen Life.  Pornography draws one into addiction, setting up a greater need for new products, pushing people to exploit young women to fill this demand, twisting the minds of the money hungry who find it acceptable to traffic daughters who will never again know the freedom of sitting at her family's dinner table, going to school and sleeping peacefully in her own bed.  Human life has been reduced to a commodity.

There is no doubt life has been cheapened in today's society.  Millions of babies have been killed for the sake of convenience, care giving of our aging population is demeaned as unimportant, the role of mothers in nurturing and raising children is viewed as a side-job, one that is not valuable enough in it's own right.  

As I live in such an atmosphere, it's easy to rationalize my apathy, or to slowly start thinking the same way.  Then I find myself face to face with a homeless man who is clearly suffering, and I look the other way.  Or I callously disregard the holocaust, thinking to myself that women have a right to make decisions regarding their own body.  Or I fail to notice the heroes who selflessly give their time to care for those who can't help themselves, thinking there are other higher profile jobs that are more important.

To avoid being mixed with the world, I must resist cheapening life in every way.

No Mercy.  I look to the government to help those in need.  I assume the welfare state is there to aid the widow and the orphan.  I point the heartbroken woman whose husband left her defenseless, her life in shambles, to public resources forgetting that the Body of Christ is called to care for widows, no matter that she lost her husband to infidelity, not death.  I assume the Department of Social and Health Services is best equipped to handle the children who are displaced by violence and drug abuse.  I don't even think about all the children languishing in orphanages, deprived of the love of a mother and father.

Caring for the least of us, the defenseless, the helpless, those crying out for help, is the kind of religion God sees as real.  Going to church once or twice a week, attending Bible study and giving tithes of time and money are all well and good, but God isn't impressed with my efforts.  Instead, He'd rather that I take the time to tangibly care for those around me, to seek out someone who needs a hand up, to love those who hunger for such a luxury (Isaiah 1:16-17, James 1:27).

To avoid being mixed with the world, I must resist turning a cold shoulder to a world in need.

No wonder God didn't want His people of old to mix in with the nations around them; they were easily swayed by their values, beliefs and ways.  Things are no different now as I've been placed in the midst of a culture that worships idols of all kinds, cheapens life in many ways, and shows no mercy to the helpless.  Against these ways, and more, I must stand firm, refusing to mix in with the world, but remain separate in my thinking while immersed in the way I influence it for Christ.  It's a fine line to walk, but one that I'm enabled to do through Christ.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can love God enough to resist the advances of this world.

How do I look just like the world around me?

Am I sticking out like a sore thumb in my beliefs and actions, or am I more of a chameleon?