Christians have a problem. We're called to be different. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God Romans 12:2. We are also called to spread the Gospel throughout the world.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. Matthew 28:18-20.
We can blend with the world in an attempt to draw people into the Body of Christ. This may grow the number of members on the rolls but it leaves us wide open to the temptation of conformity. The Church has let in much of what is, by Biblical standards idolatry in the attempt to win over people from different cultures. Even in the first century, Paul was dealing with the problem of conformity in the church he planted in Corinth. Having received word that all kinds of problems were occurring, from sexual immorality to confusion over the Lord's Supper and other matters of faith, Paul sent a stern but loving letter to be read to the church there. Corinth was a cultural center in the Roman empire and therefore had many temples to various gods and goddesses. Prostitution was openly practiced as a form of worship. New believers had a hard time shaking off old habits and fellow believers were unknowingly becoming stumbling blocks with their free practice of Christianity.
Paul was clear that we have to be different, not legalistic and pious but different than the people around us while at the same time not turning down courtesies and customs that might allow us to be more powerful witnesses. If you go into a home and they eat crickets and cat meat, don't make a fuss about your pet. Sit down, eat what is presented to you and be Christ to that family. If you can drink wine with a clear conscience and you don't drink in excess but your friend is uncomfortable around alcohol, order tea or water so you don't become a stumbling block.
Some people take the Gospel and their desire to not be tempted to the extreme and they form communities that operate outside the modern world. Amish people dress plain and don't use electric devices. They only marry within the Amish community and a member who leaves the Amish life must either come back and be accepted or be shunned by the community. \The Puritans saw any behavior not conforming to their narrow definition of acceptance as wicked and many innocent people were burned or tortured for witchcraft, usually just because they made medicines or didn't practice Christianity.
In Jesus' time, the Pharisees and Sadducees were sects in the Jewish community that thought that their way of doing Judaism was the only way. If it wasn't approved by these men, who themselves invented ways to break Torah as it suited them, they saw fit to cast judgment on you. Jesus had a habit of walking among and eating with sinners: tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, the blind and generally poor people written off by the political and religious class of that time.
For Yochanan came, fasting, not drinking -- so they say, `He has a demon.' The Son of Man came, eating freely and drinking wine -- so they say, `Aha! A glutton and a drunkard! A friend of tax-collectors and sinners!' Well, the proof of wisdom is in the actions it produces."
Matthew 11:18,19
He didn't participate in their sinfulness but He didn't just close Himself off with the disciples either. There is a balance to be struck. In John's gospel, there is a story about a crippled man whom Jesus came and healed. The man had been unable to get into the healing pool called Beit-Zata. After the man was healed, Jesus saw him later in the temple.
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."
If we become imitators of Christ, following His example of loving people without tolerating sinful behavior, we can live in a sinful world and still stand tall in The Lord. Remember that if not for the grace of God we would all be partying on the wide road to Hell.
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