Today's Scripture Reading (November 1, 2024): Exodus 1
As Christians, we are called to be different. Too often, the Christian
Church has misunderstood that instruction. We have interpreted that to mean
that we dress differently, listen to different music, or point to some
superficial way that we should be distinct. But the truth is that we have very
little biblical support for that idea. The difference in the Christian is not
superficial but rather at the core of our being.
I graduated High School from a rural school. I still remember my
graduation class; there were just over fifty of us. Every person with whom I
graduated, I knew. In the graduation picture, you can see all of us—the girls
dressed in their best dresses and most of the guys in rented tuxes. I was one
of the two holdouts who didn't wear a tux. My parents bought me a new suit for graduation,
so I had it on. Bill, the other holdout, wore a pair of clean jeans and a
checkered shirt.
Bill was different in everything that he did. When we were told to
run laps in gym class, Bill would run them but often preferred to skip them in
the opposite direction of everyone else. I have no idea why, but Bill chose to
be different in almost every way. And I know it is sometimes hard to see, but
it feels like we have taken our idea of distinctness from Bill.
The problem is that there is to be a qualitative difference in how
we act. It isn't in the words we say; it isn't in our mode of dress or our
tastes; it is a difference that extends from someplace deep inside of us. The
Bible says that they will know we are Christians by our love and how we treat
others, even when they mistreat us. It is a difference that was modeled for us on
the cross. It isn't an outer change but an inner one that makes you different and
distinct from the world.
For the mothers in Egypt, a fierce love for their kids made them
different. The midwives who had been ordered to kill the boys found that they
just couldn't do it. And when they were asked why, they just told their
handlers that the women were tough; they weren't like the Egyptian women. They
were tough and gave birth before the midwives even got there. They didn't need
the help that the midwives were ordered to provide.
It is a toughness that the Christian Church is supposed to display.
I often say everyone is welcome in the Church, but that isn't really true. The
Church needs tough people whose hearts break for the people around them, and no
one can convince them that these people are not worthy of the Church's love, a
love that changes everything. We may look the same, listen to the same music,
watch the same movies, and be products of the same culture. But we are distinct
because we hurt for people that we haven't met yet. We even hurt for people who
have damaged us. We love with a mother's fierce love for this world because
that is what God has placed inside us.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Exodus 2
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