DARE TO BE DIFFERENT
Matthew 7:12-14
Introduction: “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.” The word that Jesus used for “narrow” in the phrase “narrow is the way” refers to a road that is “narrow and troublesome” to travel. The road is not difficult because it has potholes, debris, or rocks on it. It is difficult because it is just too narrow. As a result, it is very undesirable for most to travel. There are very few who really travel it; for traveling the road requires one to be different. Christ calls His followers to be different. This morning I would challenge those of you who have entered the gate and are standing on the narrow road to travel the road and to dare to be different.
I. Be Different than the World
A. Romans 12:1 - 2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
B. Be Different in your Actions
1. Ephesians 2:1 – 3 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
2. The Princeton Religion Research Center has measured the impact of religion on day-to-day work. Comparing the "churched" with the "unchurched" on a wide range of behaviors like pilfering supplies (stealing), overstating qualifications on resumes (lying), calling in sick when not sick (lying and stealing), and overstating tax deductions (lying, stealing, and cheating), the center finds "little difference in the ethical views and behavior of the churched and the unchurched." What differences there are "are not significant or are of marginal significance." - William Hendricks, in Christianity Today, Nov. 25, 1991
3. Ephesians 4:21 - 24 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
4. When unbelievers see Christians act like the world, they conclude that their message is not authentic.
5. 1 Peter 2:9 - 10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special (peculiar) people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
C. Be Different in your Worldview
1. Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
2. We shall never act differently unless we think differently.
3. James Engel summarized the belief system and the presuppositions that commonly prevail among what he calls modern man:
• God, if He exists at all, is just an impersonal moral force.
• Man basically has the capacity within himself to improve morally and make the right choices.
• Happiness consists of unlimited material acquisition.
• There really is no objective basis for right and wrong.
• The supernatural is just a figment of someone’s imagination.
• If a person lives a “good life,” the eternal destiny is assured.
• The Bible is nothing other than a book written by man. – Living Proof by Jim Peterson, NavPress, 1989, p. 198
4. A Christian worldview leads us to believe in moral absolutes, miracles, human dignity, and the possibility of redemption through Christ.
5. True Christianity is more than a set of ideas to use at church. Christianity as taught in the Bible is itself a worldview. The Bible never distinguishes between a “religious” and a “secular” life; the Christian life is the only life there is. Jesus proclaimed Himself “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) and, in doing so, became our Weltanschauung / worldview. – What is a Christian Worldview, Copyright 2002-2007, Got Questions Ministries. All Rights Reserved.
6. Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you
D. Be Different in your Attitude
1. We keep telling them that He will make a difference in their lives, but they won’t believe it until they see it in us.
2. John 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
3. Both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over our nation’s deserts. All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do. – Steve Goodier, Quote Magazine, May, 1990 R.D.
4. For the Christian, a lousy attitude is not an option. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" Galatians 5:22-23
II. Be Different than the Average Christian
A. Revelation 3:15-16 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
B. The Paretto Principle - states that 80% of the people in a local church will not contribute to the workings of the church and that 20% will do all the work. Without a significant shift in church structure, this principle will always play out.
C. Be Different in your Commitment
1. Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time, year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism. – copied
2. Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
3. You must get involved to have an impact. No one is impressed with the won-lost record of the referee. - John H. Holcomb, The Militant Moderate
D. Be Different in your Devotional Life
1. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing,
2. "One of the concerns of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil. He mocks our wisdom. But he trembles when we pray." - Sam Chadwick
3. Psalms 119:9 - 11 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
4. Half of all Americans do not read the Bible. The majority of all born-again Christians read the Bible once or twice a week, or not at all. The survey found that only 18% of all Christians said they read the Word every day, while another 18% read the Bible between three and six days a week, 37% read it once or twice a week, and 23% said they do not read the Bible at all. Among non-Christians, 70% do not read the Bible. Is this because many people do not own a Bible? No. Our research has shown that 93% of all American own at least one Bible, and most own more than one.
E. Be Different in your Conversation
1. Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
2. Some folks are just negative and their negativity spreads like a cancer.
3. Christians ought to be the most pleasant people to be around instead of the most cantankerous.
4. Are you cantankerous or are you contagious.
III. Be Different than You were Last Year
A. Philippians 3:12 – 14 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
B. Be Different in your Level of Involvement
1. Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
2. The Dead Sea is so salty that it contains no fish or plant life. What accounts for this unusual condition? There are absolutely no outlets! A great volume of water pours into this area, but nothing flows out. Many inlets plus no outlets equal a dead sea. This law of nature may also be applied to the child of God, and it explains why many believers are so unfruitful and lacking in spiritual vitality. It’s possible for some people to attend Bible conferences, listen to religious broadcasts, study the Scriptures, and continually take in the Word as it is preached from the pulpit, and yet seem lifeless and unproductive in their Christian lives. Such individuals are like the Dead Sea. They have several “inlets” but no “outlets.” To be vibrant and useful believers, we must not only “take in” all we can, but we must also “give out” in service to others! Our Daily Bread, March-May, 1996, p. for May 22
C. Be Different in your Level of Outreach
1. The Challenge: 100 million adults attend church weekly, most for 10+ years, 49% not even believers. The average Christian in American today will die without ever having shared his faith in Christ with another person.
2. Matthew 28:18 - 20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
D. Be Different in your Level of Fellowship
1. Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
2. "The poison of non-fellowship kills so slowly you don’t realize it." -Peter Lord
