Cue the loud sound of screeching brakes..
When Jesus walked the sands of Israel, this type of religious hypocrisy was the norm and 2000 years later not much has changed. Jesus was accused of being a glutton, a drunkard and a friend of sinners. How does a perfect and righteous man get labeled with such ignanamous titles? Obviously, Jesus was none of those things (ok, maybe He was a friend of sinners, but only to tell them "go and sin no more") yet, something about the way He lived His life caused the religious crowd to disparage Him.
Jesus refused to conform to political correctness, nor did He allow the traditions of man to influence His lifestyle and ministry. Jesus was God, clearly. Not only does the Gospel of John demonstrate this in the very first chapter, but the Old Testament reveals the Messiah would be God CLICK HERE to read my post Yehovah Yeshua. In addition to being God, Jesus was a man who experienced life like all men do, He had a personality and style influenced by His life experiences.
DO NOT ALLOW THE WHIMS OF MEN INTERFERE WITH YOUR GROWTH
Guess what, you too have a personality and style influenced by your life experience. The life you have lived has helped shape who you are today. Tough things you have gone through and difficult situations you have faced, along with victories and high points have all played a role in the person you are. God looks at the person you are and He loves you. You have a unique style and way of viewing life formed by your experiences. God has allowed you to become who you are and will use you within your uniqueness.
This is not to say God excuses sin or harmful behavior. Those things must change as we grow in our faith. God wants to change your heart and lead you to obedience while allowing you to minister according to your personality. As you grow and pursue the righteousness of Christ, you will change inwardly. The trap you must avoid is allowing the rules of men to interfere with the work God is doing in you.
For most of my adult life, I have looked and dressed in a certain manner. For 3 of the last 5 years, I attempted to conform to a certain image. I "cleaned up" my appearance and dressed more "professionally" and felt like a fish out of water. I literally wanted to punch every mirror. Finally, about 2 years ago, I came to a place where I could hear God's voice tell me, "be who you are." By being true to who God has allowed me to become, I am able to serve Him according to my design. Do I still need to grow and allow God to prune sin out of my life? You bet. The sanctification process goes on until we die.
So many times well meaning believers want to impose rules, not found in scripture, to help you in your spiritual growth. Maybe God does want to change many things about you, but that is a willing partnership between you and God. True spiritual change takes place within and manifests outwardly. This is natural or organic change. Again, this does not apply to obvious sin or destructive behavior. We are beholden to point these out to one another as part of healthy accountability.
IS WHATEVER I DO NOT LIKE SIN?
I have to be careful not to allow my preferences to define sin. I personally do not care for Rap music. Rap, in and of itself is not evil, just as Metal in and of itself is not evil. I have met believers who will adamantly declare drum beats are inherently evil. I have met believers who adamantly declare men wearing earrings is sin. If the Bible is the final authority and the Bible never once condemns drum beats and the Bible actually commands the piercing of men's ears under certain circumstances, drumbeats and earrings for men become a preference thing, not a sin thing. How about nose rings, pretty edgy in certain circles, right? Rebekah the mother of Jacob, had a nose ring...
BE WHO YOU ARE WITHIN THE FRAME WORK OF LOVING GOD WITH ALL YOU ARE
Often, society attempts to define sin by norms and mores, which leads to the same self righteous hypocrisy Jesus encountered within the so called religious community of His time. The danger in this is we know how to make the outside appear clean without ever having to deal with the inner sin. Your hairstyle manner of dress or taste in music genre does not define your spiritual maturity, your devotion to God and your pursuit of holiness defines your spiritual maturity. God has made you unique for a unique purpose. Be who God has allowed you to be within the framework of loving Him and loving others with all your being. Serve God according to your design.
Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!
I definitely relate to this. We can start trying to conform and live up to a certain image with other Christians because we think they won't accept us as we truly are and the unique personality that God has given us.
ReplyDeleteI have also come across many Christians who would frown upon metal or heavy rock, simply for the sound of it, and not even examining the lyrics. The reasoning is that they believe it will be distracting and not allow you to worship God. But then they say that even about other types of music too that most people would consider popular music. It can be very frustrating when it seems as if worship has to be in only one style and nothing else will do. I find that it hinders creativity and the person that God has made us to be with our unique likes, interests, abilities etc. If everyone were the same, it would be boring, but sometimes it almost feels as if we have to be very vanilla within the church. But as you rightly say, we do need to maintain a balance and not simply think that anything goes.
Robert, you make some good points. Many of our beloved hymns were re purposed barroom songs of their time and met with resistance. Modern is not necessarily bad, yet it is not necessarily good either, and each form of worship must stand or fall in the light of scripture. Thanks for commenting and continue living as God designed!
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