Conformity
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“I’m different. I go to church every week. My family goes to church. I’m in the youth group. I’m not like everyone else.” And having said that, we run into our bedroom, put on our Abercrombie and Fitch clothes and head out for school, where we will look like the people around us, talk like the people around us, behave like the people around us, treat others like the people around us… and we will put Jesus into a box for the week. We will wear the name Christian, and if anyone asks, we will be quick to point out that we go to church, so we are different. But our actions and attitudes scream that we are the same.
Acceptance is important. We need it. It moves our actions and shapes our behaviors. But we fail to realize that Jesus offers acceptance, too. His standards are a little different though, and you can not be accepted by both him and the world. You must choose. Being friends with the world around you puts you at odds with the Lord.
“Don’t be conformed to this world,” Paul begs his audience. And now Jesus begs the same of us. “Don’t you dare say you belong to me, and then wrap yourself in the same exterior as the world. Be transformed. Become something new entirely. Change the way you think if you claim to be my follower. Think about what I have done for you and give me your heart. Is that too much to ask?” Romans 12:1-2 The Brandon McCaghren Version 
Jesus offers us the one thing that we all crave: acceptance. But he requires us to refuse the world’s acceptance in order to receive his. His stamp of approval brands us as enemies of the world. Is it worth it? To some, yes; to others, no. But to claim his acceptance while still seeking that of the world gives you neither. It leaves you dissatisfied and still in need of that ever-elusive approval.
Will you be friends with the world or friends with God? You can’t do both…
brandon mc