Break the Mold

“The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.’” –Isaiah 29:13

Reading this passage this morning, I am again reminded of how we really do need to break the mold so-to-speak. As Christian’s, I feel that we tend to really just follow what other Christian’s do, and hold ourselves up to these human standards that have been created as the right way to do things. Well, again, I think that there is no real “right way”; at least not one that has been created by man. The only truly right way to do things is to do it God’s way. And believe me; I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no good at this either, and that I really need help in this area. However, I just point out that as a church body, we are not very good at expanding and taking hold of which part we play. I think we just tend to follow what is good for one person and turn it into meaning that it’s the right way for everyone. How far off can we be, though? Seriously. Again and again, I’ve been coming back to 1 Corinthians 12:12-14. “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many part form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body-whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up on one part but of many.” While it may be designed that one of us is a great hand, another a foot, and still another a mouth, or arm, or leg, or eye. Whatever it is, I think as a church, we are missing out big on the part where we teach and disciple people to really take hold of who they are designed to be; and that what works for one does not work for another. I’m not sure how we can really go about doing something about this, or how we would really teach this to people, but I think it’s about time we really do that. If we are learning and being discipled from someone who may be a hand, this does not mean that whatever this person does is what everyone else has to do. We are all too often caught up in being cookie-cutter. We may be good at winning souls for Christ, but after that, we try to shape people into being this thing that they may not be. I think that this may be something that really turns people off from the church. I believe people don’t feel that they can be themselves. No wonder we have trouble being transparent- we are afraid of being judged by our fellow Christian’s because we don’t do it they way he or she does it. This is a huge problem! Christ Himself gives us the things we need to know. And a big one is straight up we aren’t supposed to be manufactured! It’s time to break the mold. We need to be who we are, be unashamed, and unafraid that they way we do things is all wrong because we are basing this on a human rule we have been taught. Each part of the body has its own function, and requires something different to allow it to work the way it needs. Let’s take a look at what Christ says, ask Him who we’re each supposed to be, and put that to use for His Kingdom. Apparently I’m feeling rebellious. Or perhaps it’s just revolutionary?