Let's Be Weird... TOGETHER!
Friday, June 13, 2025
“A man who is born again does not use the world’s opinion as his standard of right and wrong.” – J.C. Rylie
I absolutely and unabashedly love this quote!
It reminds me of another quote, this one by Charles Spurgeon, that goes something like this” “The reason why the church has so little influence on the world is that the world has so much influence on the church.” Ironically, Spurgeon wrote those words more than 150 years ago… and things have been going downhill ever since.
The truth of the matter is that far too often, Christians look to the world to set the guidelines for us to follow instead of allowing God’s Word to dictate and direct our behavior. Need an example?
In I Timothy 2:9, Paul instructs women – under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – to dress modestly “with propriety and moderation”. Likewise, in both Romans 14:13 and I Corinthians 8:9, that same Holy Spirit inspired Paul to tell Christians to avoid behavior that could be a stumbling block to fellow believers. And yet, I challenge you to visit a local beach and tell me which bikini-clad young ladies are professing Christians, and which ones are not.
I know I am sounding like a prude, but since when did we start adopting the world’s standards, basically parading around in our underwear in public? And that is just one very limited example. We gladly, even gleefully, plunk down our hard-earned money to watch a movie that features nudity, harsh profanity, and violence so graphic that it requires a parental warning… all of which would have made our grandparents’ generation cringe in horror. However, we have become desensitized to such worldly behavior and so, like righteous Lot (see 2 Peter 2), we mindlessly munch away on our popcorn while our entire family is being corrupted by living in the midst of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 19).
Oh, that we would take seriously Peter’s description of Christians as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own very special people” whose purpose is to “proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (I Peter 2:9). I especially like the phrasing in the original KJV, where we are called “a peculiar people” and the NIV, where we are referred to as “God’s special possession”.
My friend, let’s not be afraid or ashamed to act like we are peculiar, because we are, or like we belong to God, because we do.
“Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.” Psalm 107:2 (NLT)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
