Roll it in to tomorrow’s day if you like, because this one’s coming to you late!
Since I’ve been on a ‘finding Truth wherever you find it and using it’ kick for a bit, and since I recently wrote about quoting from non-Christian sources if it’s relevant, I thought I’d give you this to think about:
“Perhaps it’s impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.” From Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Is there a point in being like those you seek to win (1 Cor. 9:19-23) that goes too far and ultimately corrupts you? If so, how would you know? Where’s the line? How far would you go to relate and be relevant?
Someone once told me that the clean sock doesn’t make the dirty hamper clean by being thrown in to it, the clean sock just gets dirty.
What do you think?
I hope all of your days go awesomely tomorrow
Peace,
Joe C
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9 Comments(+Add)
When you take a candle into a dark place, does the candle become darker?
When you put salt in a bland dish, does the salt become bland?
When Jesus came to the earth… ?
I have no problem wearing a clean sock that was thrown in a dirty hamper…
Seriously, how dirty do your socks have to be if they are actively infecting other clothing?
Joe – I think this is the tension Jesus spoke of, about being “in the world, but not of it…” Usually, it seems, the difficulty lies in first identifying (in a specific situation) what “the world” is… You’ve gotta know that before you can figure out what “in” and “of” mean.
Charlie Ware, a wonderful pastor from the Indy area once said in a sermon that we too often get what “the World” is wrong. He said, look at our brothers and sisters in the Amish community; they moved “out of the world” or so they thought and now people drive from all over to watch them.
Joe C,
Great thought and very applicable.
I like the idea of becoming. We are not quite there yet, but He’s working on it. Someday we will be like Him, for we shall see him as he is.
jerry
Anything short of sin.
I’m one for following Jesus in going to the outcast, the darkness and the unclean areas, pleaces and people of our world.
But being smart enough to know that I’m not Jesus. I think here it helps to have an accountability to another believer that you trust to tell you when you’ve crossed a line, tell you when you might be getting confused because of what you are doing. Someone who’s not going with you to x,y or z but someone you’ve committed to be on display for and honest.
A Biblical example of that would be the conflict between Paul and Peter after Peter and his crew fell into the wrong crowd.
Jerry,
I was hoping someone would see the connection with that quote to us trying to ‘imitate me as I imitate Christ’. We ‘put on Christ’, we imitate Him, and we become more like Him slowly but surely. So it’s not just imitating the world (kinda) in order to reach them but going too far; it’s also imitating Christ to slowly more and more become a “little Christ” (Christian). I hope you’ll get my meaning here.
Kevin,
Well said brother. I think having someone to ‘reel you back in’ when you get ‘too deep’ is a fantastic idea. Because it’s still important to be relatable and relevant. it’s still important to go ‘to the outcast’ and ‘the darkness/unclean areas’ etc.
Phil,
My socks ARE that dirty. Don’t make fun.
Joe C
Mimi,
Good point, the metaphor fails in certain distinct ways. One thing I will say is, we’re not Jesus, who of course was without sin. Good thoughts. So do you think there’s no limit on how far down a path you go with someone in relating to them?