Nonconforming

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Colossians 3:9-10

Take off our evil ways. Put on a life in accordance to the rule’s of Christ’s Kingdom. This act is seen all over the New Testament. To put off our old selves and step into who God created us to be. Made new. And the truth is, this all points back to unity. We are one in Christ. We have to live like that. There cannot be separation, divide, or dispute. We don’t have to agree on every point, but can you imagine if the church actually lived as one? If we actually walked in love together just as Christ did? I tell you one step we can all take towards this, to put on our new selves, to not conform.

Belong to the Kingdom of God, be in the world, be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. That is our calling, our great commission in Christ. To bring Him to the ends of the earth.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Romans 12:2

Christ Tiegreen speaks to this in his devotional, Salt and Light. How so many of us go in to an area of society with good intentions, goals to make change, and to be different…but we often fall short. Here is why he says this happens,

“Many have not learned how to carry the character and ways of God into places that contradict his character and ways. We forget the Spirit within us.”

I will be the first to admit I have done this. I have this deep passion to change our education system. It’s broken and I want to fix it. God told me years ago that He wants to use me to change education, but that it must be done from the inside out. He gave me this picture of how He changes us, from the inside out. That there must be real heart change in order to seek lasting, genuine life change. And the same is true in our education system.

But, somewhere along the way, I forgot this. I forgot my why. I got caught in the ways of the world, conforming ever so slightly away from the Kingdom of God. But, God. Over the last two years, He has been at work in this area of my life. Well, the truth is, He has always been at work. I just forgot. I missed the small moments where He was working. Recently, my eyes have been opened to every small way He has been at work. He has given me the vision again, reminded me of this assignment He has called me to. He has worked to realign my desires and passions. He has not given me the whole picture. I am clueless as to how He is going to work this out. But, I do know I serve a God who works all things together for good. And I serve a God who is faithful. I look back on the last two years and I am in awe of each small detail that has led to right now. Here is one, small example:

In my woman’s group a month or so ago, one of the ladies who is a nurse was saying that before she walks into a hospital room, she always prays, “Holy Spirit, go before me.” And I had this DUH moment with God. Who am I to not pray that exact same prayer before I enter my school and my classroom each morning? I pray all day long in that school. But, not for a long time have I prayed for the Spirit to go before me. Simple. Yet, profound.

The Spirit is why any of this is possible.. And we cannot forget Him within us. We cannot forget that He goes before us. I, like many of you, work in an ungodly kingdom. It’s literally written into the laws…separation of church and state. Yet, what an honor it is to serve the Lord in this area. But, also, exactly where our problem lies. The enemy ate work. Division. Because the two cannot be separated. Our God is a God of unity…for all people, everywhere. You won’t catch me walking into a public school preaching the gospel, I do need that measly paycheck. But, you better believe I am walking into my school each morning bringing Jesus in a million different ways. Because when we can do that, when we can serve with godly stubbornness, to not conform, real change will take place. We see it happen on the streets, in prisons, in broken homes, in hospital rooms…why shouldn’t it happen in our schools too? Who am I to stand in God’s way? He wants to move. The goal: ends of the earth.

So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way? Acts 11:17

A few weeks ago, Pastor Ryan at Hosanna church referenced the Pledge of Allegiance. Honestly, I didn’t even catch it, my mom brought it up to me a day or two later. He specifically spoke to this line; one nation under God, indivisible.

When we are one under God, we truly are indivisible. And now, every morning as my kindergarteners and I say the pledge, it’s almost as if for a moment, time stands still. I linger on those words a little longer. I dream on them. That in my classroom, my school, my community, and all across America, all across the world, that we will one day be, ONE NATION UNDER GOD. And with that, indivisible. Yes, in eternity, but also, here, on earth.

Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. Here as it is in heaven.

Revelation, people think is a scary book of the Bible. But, I read it in a new light a few years ago and it has quickly become one of my favorite books. For the hope that is to come, but more so for the application in the here and now. God is calling us to live in such a way where we do not conform to this world, but where we bring His Kingdom into every room we walk into.

A few days prior to this devotional, Chris Tiegreen mentioned this proverb;
Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed. Proverbs 11:11
Going on to say, “-but the long-term health of a culture stands or falls not on its majorities but on the level of involvement of its godly remnants.”

And what an honor. Not a burden, but a beautiful blessing, that we have been given. Our communities need us, the godly remnants, now more than ever. Because they need Jesus now more than ever. The Spirit is within us. We have His power, His authority, His love, His grace. We just have to walk in it. To be brave enough to not conform to the ways of this world, but be transformed by God.

Love and blessings,