As you look around in society you can see many varied things and people. But, you may not see much God or holiness.
Holiness?
That’s a word that shocks some of you.
Why?
Because society has brought God down to a level of commonality with man. He is not seen as holy by many. We truly are a society bent on believing that ‘our’ choices and decisions are okay no matter how far they are from the center of the will of God.
People have come to believe and live with no filter for right or wrong in their lives and choices.
What about you and me?
Let’s be honest… are we conforming to society or to God?
Let’s be honest… are we conforming to society or to God? Click To TweetIt’s time to get really real about your faith, our lives, and our future in God. This is a candid conversation that must be had in our personal heads and in the conversations with friends. Something happened to me that made me really re-think this topic.
A Candid Conversation
I remember several months ago I was in the AT&T store and an AT&T representative was helping me. This man, we will call him Larry, said in our random talking, that the Bible was just a book of tales and rhetoric. He said that it was okay for regular people to replace their own names with the name of God in the Bible!
I know, I know, you are shocked.
Imagine how I felt.
At first, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But, then I remembered this is our culture today. This random, crazy conversation, was coming to an end. I told Larry that this was not right and that God ‘s name is not to be replaced with any other name. I also told him the Bible is not a book of rhetoric and tales.
He quickly became silent and attended to my phone. Nothing else was said, but I was talking in my head.
As I left, this conversation with Larry got me to thinking. How many people in that moment would have stood up for their beliefs? How many people think like him in this world? How did he get to believing like this?
I wondered, what are people really standing for, conformed to. It was easy for me to stand up for what I believed about Christ but what about others.
So I ask you, what are you really standing up for? If for Christ, are you sure? Are you diligent to do it? Do you need to adjust some things in your life to be a better witness?
Related Post: Opening The Door On The Good News About Jesus
3 Questions To See If You’re On Solid Spiritual Ground
I inventoried my life and rechecked my beliefs. As I headed to the car, I thought about how Larry could believe that was true and how I believed something so totally different. I thought about my choices every day that lead me to this place of belief and why I hold them so strongly. So I will ask you to check these areas to make sure.
- Do you believe in the absolute truth of the Word of God?
- Are you willing to speak up and say what you believe when the opportunity presents itself?
- Do you defend the lies of the world or do you embrace them when convenient?
What if, one day, I come across another person with some radical crazy belief. Will I conform to that way of thinking?
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Then, I had a thought. What about the next person behind me that Larry would speak to and say something to them about the Bible being a book of tales. Would they agree with him? Their conversation might change that person’s life and set them on a wrong course. Larry could be dangerous to many in their faith.
But wait, we have many “Larry”s on the Earth now doing just that.
Why was Larry so willing to speak this out to me, a stranger, in the store like that?
Because, he was conformed to a part of society that sees Jesus as someone on their level, unholy, unworthy and not the God of the Universe and mankind and just a man. Larry saw the Bible as common and not holy and nothing to live by. Remember, to him it was just a book of tales.
3 Ways To Stand Firm In Our Beliefs
How can you prevail against lies like Larry believes?
- Believe that God said that He was a holy God and we were to be holy. We are not to defame holy things or make them common. We are to be set apart in the ungodly world. That doesn’t mean we are not to live in the world. We do that but, we are not to be a part of the culture and society that doesn’t look like God or act like God in the Earth. We are to change and effect the society. To be the light to the darkness.
- When making our life decisions, we shouldn’t make them the way the world does; based on selfishness, failures, sins, and think that God accepts that and it’s okay.
- We are not to take the culture into our lives and be shaped by it. Instead, we are to shape it. We are not to conform.
Do Not Be Conformed
What have you conformed to? What have you taken in from the culture. Are you living by your own set of rules and what feels comfortable to you? Are you living as if the Bible is a book of tales and rhetoric? What would you do with a Larry in your life?
We must be conformed to His image only. We are to let His image be seen even in the AT&T store or wherever we go. When the image is challenged and made to be common, we are to stand up and be a voice for God.
Somewhere, Larry conformed to some image. But what if he didn’t? What would Larry’s conversation be then to the customer coming into the store. What would yours be if you didn’t conform ever?
We must stand up for what is right and think about how we shape the world around us and show forth the image of God to all we meet.
The Bible says that we are not to be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Transformation of the mind takes work. If you are conforming to the world I challenge you to study the word of God. Pray and ask God to help you transform and think a different way about Him, His laws and love. He loves you and wants you to know Him intimately. He wrote a book to tell you how much he loves you and put very real stories in them, all true, to show you His goodness.
Be ye transformed!
If we are conformed to the image of God, we must let His image be seen everywhere we go… even the AT&T store… Click To TweetRelated Resource For Christian Women
To become fluent in a new language, you must immerse yourself in it until you actually start to think about life through it. Becoming fluent in the gospel happens the same way―after believing it, we have to intentionally rehearse it (to ourselves and to others) and immerse ourselves in its truths. Only then will we start to see how everything in our lives, from the mundane to the magnificent, is transformed by the hope of the gospel. That’s the thinking behind Gospel Fluency.
Let’s Talk About Jesus
We are putting together an anthology that’s all about putting our faith into words.
Sound interesting? Click here to find out more.
I am sorry that you had to face such a harsh critic in Larry. I am certainly appalled at his comment. Yet I know that more and more people are conforming to this world. I see it even in my own family. My sister has as completely different perspective and as our father was dying, grew hateful at my need to finish my convo with Dad about his salvation before he passed. She thought I was selfish and that it was my desire, rather than Dad’s soul in jeopardy. Thankfully, God answered my prayer to send someone else to be a witness. I don’t know if Dad accepted Jesus as his Savior, but I was comforted in that he heard the message several times before he passed last month.
Wow I pray he did accept Christ….. thank you for sharing.
Love this Stephanie! Thank you for challenging us all to stand up for what we believe in and hopefully save a few souls for Jesus along the way!