Don’t Be Different AloneSample

FOSO: Fear of Standing Out

It’s time to redefine “different.” Because we live in a culture of double standards, the subliminal message we hear is, “Be true to yourself … as long as you fit in with us.” That means you can be different to an extent, but only as long as your difference is not too different, as long as you don’t deviate from the culturally acceptable version of “different.”

Yesterday, we talked about how we are called to be holy because our God is holy. What’s the connection? Well, the truth is we represent God wherever we go. We are made in His image—that means we were designed to be pictures for the world of who God is and what He is like. When we miss the mark of being holy, we misrepresent God.

That’s what sin is—the failure to live up to our calling as God’s image bearers. We were created for a purpose, and when we fall short of that purpose, we sin. God cares about sin because God cares about you, and He wants you to accomplish your purpose. He cares about the world knowing Him and His love. This is why He cares so much about holiness.

Everything we do represents the team we belong to. When a football player steps on the field, the name of their team is on the front of their jersey and their name is on the back. As an individual player, they have a part to play but are just one member of a larger team. When you start following Jesus, you become part of His team. Your personal relationship with Jesus and commitment to serve others is important, but there’s more to holiness than that. Because none of us are meant to be different alone, holiness is about all of us following Jesus together and experiencing the love of God as a family. Because faith in Jesus doesn’t just make us teammates, it makes us family.

This is what we get to be part of:

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Ephesians 2:19-21 NLT

So, what if “holiness” is just shorthand for your God-given purpose?

It’s always been God’s intention to bless the whole world by building a family. The family He started with was Abraham’s. That family grew into the nation of Israel—the Jewish people. They were chosen by God to be set apart, to be holy. God gave them specific instructions on how to live and treat people. He wanted them to be different so that the rest of the world could see that He was different. It wasn’t always easy, and they didn’t always get it right, but God never gave up on them. Just like He will never give up on you.

He’s invited you to join this family, to be part of God’s holy people. You don’t have to be different alone. We are all being built together, like a house, on the foundation of the fathers and mothers of our faith who went before us—those who endured all the pressure and persecution that comes from being different. We have their example. We have Jesus’ example. We have each other.

And we have commands from God to help us know how to live differently and be holy. That’s what we’re going to look at tomorrow—the “how.”

Challenge: What are some of the ideas you’ve had about what it means to be holy? Where did those ideas come from? Do they line up with what you’re seeing in Scripture? Let’s do the work of aligning our perspectives with God’s truth today. Remember, you don’t have to be different alone. Share what you’re processing with someone you trust.