The difference between those who have obtained mercy and those who walk in the light must be discernable to the naked eye. It’s not something one has to guess at; it’s not something one has to wonder about; it should be as readily visible as the difference between day and night. Whether in words, actions, practices, or everyday life, those with whom you come in contact ought to be able to see you as different without needing to verbalize it. If, when everyone around you is frantic and fearful, you are at peace, it will be noticed. If, when everyone around you is angry and bitter, you have the joy of the Lord, it will be noticed. The natural environment a believer resides in differs from that of the world, and it will not go unnoticed.
Not far from where we live, there is a place called Wisconsin
Dells. It’s sort of a discount Branson without the Osmonds, but every summer,
hundreds of young people from all over the world come through a program called
Work and Travel. This program is basically cheap labor for the business owners
and a chance to see America for those who sign up for it. A good chunk of these
young people are from Eastern Europe, whether Romania, Poland, Hungary,
Moldova, Ukraine, or Bulgaria.
Since they have an abundance of water parks, and my girls are
basically fish without gills, we try to go at least once every summer and let
them enjoy themselves. We usually spend the whole day and end up eating out
somewhere, and each time, I can spot the Romanian, if there is one, without
them saying a word. My wife doubted my abilities until I proved it to her time
and again. Once might be a fluke, even twice, but I’ve been consistent
throughout the years, and we’re up to seven or eight instances where I’d nudge
my wife and say, “They’re Romanian; just watch.”
Believers should stand out to the world just as Romanians
stand out to me. I can’t explain how I know; I just do. Whether facial
features, mannerisms, or how they carry themselves, I can spot a Romanian out
of fifty other people who look similar but aren’t. It’s not as though they’re
dressed differently than the other wait staff, and no one’s wearing the
traditional sheepskin hat on their heads, but there’s something about them that
gives them away every time.
Looks can be deceiving, and words can be lies, but a man's
true nature stands out and is undeniable.
We go out of our way to assimilate into the current culture,
not realizing we were never supposed to attempt it. If you are a true child of
God, born again and sanctified, the truth is that even if you try to
assimilate, you won’t be able to because you are a new creature and, therefore,
unable to pretend otherwise. Those of the world will know you don’t belong.
They will intuit that there is something different about you, something grating
and disconcerting, so they will either distance themselves from you or attempt
to make you into something more palatable to their fallen state.
Whether the pressure is subtle or more overt depends upon the
kind of people you’re dealing with, but the bottom line is that you are
considered an invasive species, something that does not belong and so must
either be assimilated or done away with. The coexist stickers are a ruse. They
are a lie because darkness has no desire to coexist with the light. Its only
desire is to subjugate the light, isolate it, and do away with it altogether.
It is then that you must choose to either remain unspotted
from the world or begin to make compromises in order to appease those of the
world. It is a choice. The devil can’t make you sin, trick you into sinning, or
force you to do it. His job is to tempt; yours is to resist temptation. His job
is to present sin in such a way that the consequences thereof, whether in the
short term or for all eternity, are minimized and the momentary pleasure
magnified.
James 1:27, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the
Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep
oneself unspotted from the world.”
That’s the standard and plumbline James establishes in the
first chapter of his epistle. By the fourth chapter, he is compelled to deliver
a warning and one that the contemporary church should take to heart because of
the implications couched therein.
James 4:4, “Adulerers and adulteresses! Do you not know that
friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a
friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
There’s not much wiggle room, is there? There aren’t a dozen
ways we can interpret this verse or downplay the severity of what it implies.
If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. If,
however, you want to be a friend of God, through no desire of your own, by the
nature of your desire to walk in the light, the world becomes your enemy. It is
the world that initiates the animosity. It is the world that initiates the
hatred and vitriol because any amount of light is an offense to those wandering
in the dark.
What becomes of a church filled with individuals who continue
to think as those of the world? What becomes of a body that continues to
practice the same sins and vices it did before it walked through the doors and
up the aisle? I’m not trying to be needlessly cruel, but this is the situation
the church finds itself in, and countless souls believe that all it took and
all it will ever take is a prayer and the wave of a hand to be saved, reborn,
and sanctified. Biblically, that is a lie. A comfortable lie, a popular lie, and
oft trumpeted lie, but nevertheless, a lie.
I can’t tell you something contrary to what the Bible says just because it will make you more comfortable. I can’t omit the truth of scripture because it may hurt someone’s feelings or even make them dislike me. The truth will out, and the reckoning is here. It’s not something decades down the road; it’s just around the bend, and we’re already starting to see the disillusionment of many who’ve been holding their breath waiting for their breakthrough, wealth transfer, or thousandfold return. Even now, they’re still focused on the things of this earth; even with all that we are witnessing going on in the world, the desire of many hearts is just more of the world.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
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