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Cultural Niches Do Not Make You A Christian

          Now day’s it seems the world revolves around marketed themed ideas. Especially these most recent generations in the church. They seem to have their faith bond by these trends. Anything from coffee and Comfort Color tee’s to Chaco’s, Eno’s and tattoos. Yet God’s word and faith has nothing to do with any of that. I suppose it has been this way for generations. Just look in the church. What is consider “nice church cloths” shows its extreme variants every Sunday morning.  Somehow, John the Baptist, a mountain man of sorts for is his time, was still able to do God’s work. Wearing camel hair, a leather belt around his waist and eating locusts and wild honey he prepared the way for Christ. (Matt. 3:4) John the Baptist did not command that you had to dress like him to follow Christ. He did not set any trends in fashion or marketable ideas either.

        I have yet to see in scripture that those who repented and turned to God mimicked his style. We can even go as far to look at the examples of faithful children of God in Hebrews 11. They wandered in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. It was said that the world was not worthy of them. (Heb. 11: 37b-38) Still God never required us to take on such a façade or style to be His. In fact, all these mentioned did not start out that way. The life they chose to live for God brought them to that point.

       Christianity is not about getting a tattoo to mimic the scars of Paul or a manmade image that represents Christianity. It’s not about wearing the sandals that Christ wore. It’s not about walking everywhere Christ stepped. It’s not about wearing the garb or having the social/cultural structure of biblical times. It is about delighting in the perfect law of liberty.  (Rom. 7:22; Jam. 1:25) It is walking just as Christ walked in obedience to the father and His commands. (1 John 2:6; Matt. 28:20; Matt. 26:39; Heb. 5:8-9) It is about self-denial, self-sacrifice, and following Christ. (Luke 9:23) In the end it is all about whether or not you did what Christ said.  (Rev. 20:11-15) That is the whole of man. (Ecc. 12:13-14)

       When we make Christianity about styles, themes, popular phrases or teachings, and any other cultural trend it is no longer about God. It’s about us. Why is that? God said nothing about those things. He actually said the contrary. In fact, he said not to be like the world. (Rm. 12:2) So, we must be careful to not present Christianity to others in such manners. Also, we need to be mindful that our Christian walk does not become about these outward marketed Christian appearances. That it does not be come about us.

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