I am always looking for good funny stories especially if they happen to be true. A few years ago I came upon a true interesting story about the President Calvin Coolidge.
During His presidency there was someone from his home town that was visiting him at the Whitehouse. The guests had never been to the Whitehouse before and they weren't used to anything fancy. So they were a bit nervous on what they should be doing at the dinner table.
They determined that the best course of action is to keep a keen eye on there friend the president and do everything that he did. If the president used a knife they would do the same. If the president picked up a certain fork they would pick up the same fork as well.
This strategy worked fairly well. That is until the coffee was served. The president poured his coffee on the saucer. The guest thought it was rather odd to do that but given that the president did it and he would be in the know, they followed him and poured their coffee on there saucer's as well. Then President Coolidge added sugar and cream. This too was a bit odd but they were already committed and so the guests followed suit.
Then President Coolidge bent over and put his saucer on the floor for the cat to drink. As you can imagine by now everyone realized there mistake. While they were embarrassed by the whole ordeal everyone had a good laugh about it.
Many times we can do things because other people do them. I remember my parents telling me "would you jump off a bridge if your friends did it?" Truth be told a lot of times we tend to follow the leader. We don't want to be the odd one out. We don't want to be the one that is not doing what everyone else is doing. We don't like feeling like the outsider. We all have a deep desire to fit in, and be excepted.
What if what everyone is doing is wrong? What if what everyone believes is not right? As believers in Christ this is a question that we must often face. There are things this world says is perfectly acceptable, yet the bible is clear that it is not. What are we to do? Do we go along with the crowd? Do we stand for the truth even if that means being the only one doing it?
We need to be careful that we are not blindly following the crowd just to be accepted or liked. There are times when our faith will put us at odds with others. The world around us accept all sorts of things that the word of God is clear on. The world may never see a problem with pornography, divorce, LGBTQ lifestyles, greed or pride, just to name a few. There will be people who are around you who will see Sunday as just another day of the week.
As believers in Christ we need to be followers of Jesus Christ. We need to pattern our life on the timeless word of God. Our desire should not be to follow others but to follow God.
Doing that sometimes means that we will not always be popular. It might mean that you and I will be making enemies. We might be hated, mocked, and even suffer in one way or another for following Jesus instead of the crowd. That is exactly what the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:2.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.- (Rom 12:2)
We as followers of Christ are not called to fit in just for the sake of fitting in. We are told not to conform to the things of this world, even it it is the popular thing to do. It was not a popular thing for a Jewish person to go to the Samaritans, but Jesus did. It was not popular for a man to speak to a woman, especially if that woman had a bad wicked reputation, but Jesus did. It was not popular for a religious man to sit with tax collectors and sinners and have a meal with them, but Jesus did. In all of these situations and so many more we see Jesus not going along with the crowd.
In all of those situation we not only see Jesus not going along with the crowd but he also made it clear that He would not budge on the things God's word said. He told people time and time again "GO and Sin No more" We are called to live differently. We are called to follow what is that good and perfect will of God.
SO how can we make sure not to be conformed to this world? How can we make sure we are following what is good and acceptable perfect will of God?
Paul tells us, we are to renew our mind, to study, listen and learn from God what is good. We need to conform our life not by feelings, or emotions, or what is popular. Instead we are to conform our lives by the very word of God.
So before you jump in on what you see what everyone else is doing, take time to think about what God might say about the matter.
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