My good friend Sandala Mwanje posted on his Facebook page the other day saying “[it] seems there's a generation of young Christians who are on a mission to bridge the gap between Light and Darkness. Good luck! i.e., if you come out alive!!!”[1]
His observation struck a chord with the feelings of my heart. Maybe he and I are just doomsayers and need to lighten up a bit (or as we young people would say “take a chill pill”). But the truth is the line between light and darkness gets thinner by the day. Christians seem to be on a mission to outdo the world in living sensual lives. Or as they would put it, become like them to win them over. What is even worse is the desire to justify the worldliness and to attempt to do so with the Bible (at least by abusing it). Others have simply resorted to waging war against the Bible itself and denying what it teaches or trying to discredit it, in an effort to simply not live holy lives. This trend reveals a serious lack of understanding of what the Scriptures teach. Particularly the meaning of salvation and its implications.
Let me begin by making a proposition and then show it from Scripture. Anyone who has been saved from their sins will live a transformed life such that they will be distinct from the world they live in. Regardless of your worldview, traditions, or culture, obeying the words of Jesus sets you apart from the world you live in. And no I am not talking about isolation (isolating yourself from the world, if it is even possible is not biblical either), nor perfection (none of us will ever be perfect while on earth) and neither am talking about taking up another culture (every culture is sinful). However, the Bible calls us to holy living (set apart, distinct) because the God who has saved us is holy (1 Peter 1:15-17).
We need to understand that before salvation we are lost, sinful and under the wrath of God (Romans 1:18-19, 3:10-18). We were enemies of God and hostile to him and his ways (Colossians 1:20-24) because as the Bible describes us, we were dead in sin, totally unable to please God (Ephesians 2:1-3). But thanks be to God, he made us alive, and saved us from our sins through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now if you ever needed an example of radical transformation, a dead person made alive is as good as you will get! In Romans 12, the Bible commands us, in light of our salvation, to not be conformed to the world (do not pattern your life after the world) but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (consistently changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ).
In other words, those who have been truly saved from their sins will not continue living in their former lives. They put off their sinful (worldly) ways, they renew their minds (cleanse and change way of thinking), and they put on the new man (take on Christ like virtues); this change makes them distinct from the world. It is in fact this distinctness that brings about persecution from the world but also serves as a powerful testimony to them.
To be saved and remain worldly is to claim you are dead, and yet remain buried in the cemetery. To be saved and remain unchanged is to claim God’s work of salvation is not effective and does not bring about change. To be saved and remain in sin is to call God a fraud because he boldly declares that he will wash us white as snow (Isaiah 55) and further tells us we are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6). Furthermore, it is illogical for believers to want to win unbelievers by acting like them; how exactly are you supposed to win someone to a different way of living, if you yourself are not living in a new way but are living exactly like him? Like I said, I am not talking about perfection; Christian’s do sin; however, when they do they humbly confess the sin and repent of it, no explanations, no justification, just humble, honest acknowledgement of sin.
Hear the words of Scripture exhorting us to holiness before the watching world, so that we may glorify our Father:
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 1 Peter 2:11-12.
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