An ABC of Faith

Alienation

In their book ‘Resident Aliens’ Bishop Will Willimon and Professor Stanley Huaerwas write, “We believe that many Christians do not fully appreciate the odd way in which the church, when it is most faithful, goes about its business. We want to claim the church's "oddness" as essential to its faithfulness.” 

Have you ever felt that following Christ implies that you are at odds with society, in fact a Resident Alien. One of the strong sayings of Paul to the Romans is, “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) And later in Ephesians 2:12 we read, “remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

Perhaps one of the failings of the Church has been to try and become too trendy, too hip, too contemporary and that its alright to be countercultural in fact “Odd”.

Farmers in Zentsuji, Japan, are preparing full-grown watermelons for shipment -- only these are no ordinary melons: they're square! They were placed in tempered-glass cubes while they were still growing. Why would anyone want a square watermelon? They’re much easier to store in a refrigerator! It’s amusing to think of how a naturally round watermelon can become square because of the shape of the container in which it’s grown. I think that this clearly illustrates Paul’s instruction to the church in Rome.

I do like J B Phillips paraphrase that says, “With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”

Thomas Taylor born in 1807 penned a hymn that said,

I'm but a stranger here,

Heaven is my home;

Earth is a desert drear;

Heaven is my home:

Danger and sorrow stand

Round me on every hand;

Heaven is my fatherland,

Heaven is my home.

Dear Lord, I pray that I do not become like the world. I pray that I am transformed by the renewing of my mind that I may learn to understand Your will for my life, which is good and pleasing and perfect. I thank You for my spiritual growth and transformation, help me focus on the godly values and ethical attitudes that will help me flourish spiritually, emotionally and mentally, Amen.