meditatio at the water's edge

Different in a Good Way

To be ‘in the world but not of the world’ is a phrase we have become so comfortable with that we might be in danger of ignoring it altogether. I wonder if one reason we have become so comfortable with the consumerism, individualism, and the other ‘gods’ of our age because we have lost our sense of being ‘a body of people sent.’ Do we see ourselves as a missional community?

Part of being missional is identifying the places where the good news of the kingdom of God challenges the assumptions and practices of the other would-be ‘kingdoms’ of the age. We might ask, “In what way is God calling us to live differently than our culture?” We might ask, “What ‘normal’ ways of living does the gospel call into question?” We might ask, “What ‘alternative’ ways of living does the gospel call us to embody?”

Being an alternative community means that we are to be different—to offer a different ‘way of being’. In doing this, we cannot settle for the superficially different ways (i.e., ‘Christian’ versions of ‘secular’ products & entertainment, t-shirts, bumper stickers, & wrist bracelets). We need deep and fundamental difference in the quality of our character & of our lives together.

We need to be different, but being different doesn’t mean being weird in the superficially weird ways that we usually think of being different.. It means we might need to take a hard look at the ways we value privacy and autonomy over the good of others and seek ways to involve ourselves in the practices of hospitality and confession. It means that we might need to take a hard look at the ways we relate to other people in economic, transactional ways (i.e., “how can this person help me get what I want?” “what do I need to do so that we’re even?”) and seek ways we can both give generously and receive graciously. It might mean that we need to take a hard look at the reason we feel we need to ‘own’ everything we use and seek ways we can share our possessions with others.

These are not easy things to do, but I believe that they may be some of the most important things we must do as students of Jesus. We need people who will get together and ask the tough questions of each other—not just to make new rules to prevent us from having what we want to have and doing what we want to do, but to free us from the compulsions and addictions that enslave us and prevent us from faithful life in God’s kingdom.

Will you be a part of a group of people who are different in a good way?