Chameleanity
Introduction: In one of Aesops fables he tells of the Miller, his Son, and his donkey. The two of them were riding their donkey to a nearby fair to sell him. They hadn't got very far when they met with a group of women that were chatting around a well, they began laughing “look there,” “did you ever see such a thing? They are walking don't they realize they could ride the donkey.” The Miller was embarassed so he put his Son on the donkey and went down the road when they came across a group of old men, one of them said “That just proves how the youth don't respect the elderly” So the Miller got on the donkey and let his son walk, after a little while they heard some jeering coming from some women and children “Why, you lazy old goat, how can you ride the donkey when a little boy can barely keep up.” Then they both got on the donkey and as they were coming into town a man asked “is that your donkey?” The Miller said “Yes” then the man said “I wouldn't have guessed it by how mean you are to it by loading it down with all your weight. You two fellows are better off carrying him than the poor donkey carrying you.” “Anything to please you,” the Miller said and they tied the donkey to a stick and began carrying him into town over their shoulders. Everyone in town was laughing at the sight and the donkey became startled and broke loose tumbling off the pole and into the river. He went home convinced that trying to please everyone pleases no one. You can't please everyone, no matter how hard you try. Like politicians, Chameleon Christians try to please all sides and end up pleasing no one, because they don't stand for anything more than having a favorable position.
I find it fascinating how Gods' own creation teaches us lessons, we learn a lesson of industry from an ant in Proverbs, We learn the insidiousness of the devil as a roaring lion in I Peter, We also learn a lesson of Gods provision from a sparrow in 3 of the 4 gospels. We see the importance of God's word through seeds in Mark and Luke. We see different lessons from nature and in case you didn't figure it out, Chameleanity is Chameleon Christianity, this is the art of blending in with your surroundings so as to remain undetected. I've read that it is a common misconception that Chameleons always do this to match their environment, but it is undeniable that they will blend in with their environment in order to protect themselves and evade predators. In fact there is a certain chameleon named the 'Smith's Dwarf Chameleon' that not only adjusts its colors for camouflage but adjusts its colors in accordance with the vision of the specific predator like a bird or a snake that is hunting it. And from this we have another lesson to learn today, just like this certain species of chameleon, there is a certain species of Christian that will adjust their colors based upon the views of those outside the church, in order to avoid ridicule.
The Smith's Dwarf Chameleon is an endangered species, I wish I could say the same for this species of Christian. But its no surprise that this type of Christianity is not merely surviving but thriving in the world. Charles Spurgeon said “That very church which the world likes best is sure to be that which God abhors.” If an unrepentant and sinful world continues to flock to a church and yet remains unchanged unmoved, and unsaved something is wrong with that church.
Transition: I want to make three points about Chameleanity this morning: The Problem of Chameleanity, The Practice of Chameleanity, and The Prevention of Chameleanity. First, ...
The Problem of Chameleanity
First, lets look at the problem with the world's perception of the Church. And before we jump into that lets ask this question: What is the purpose of having church? The name church comes from two words: Ek - “out of” and Kaleo - “to call.” We get from these two words 'Ekklesia' – “to call together” This refers to the assembly of Christians. There is the church (little c) that is the local assembly and there is the Church (capital C) that is the universal assembly. When someone says “where do you go to church?” they are asking about the local assembly you go to, but if someone says “I favor separation of Church and State” They are talking about the universal assembly.
The question we must ask ourselves today is “why go to church?” We can't convince others to go if we don't know why we go ourselves. The world may say “why do we need church, we have our own charities.” “Why do we need church, we have our own morals, we have political correctness, etc..” “Why do we need church, we have our own ways of doing good in society.”
There is this pervasive idea among unbelievers that the church has nothing to offer the world in which we are called to reach. Well, if they are looking for more of the same, why bother going to church anyway? The problem with Chameleanity is it preaches tolerance above holiness, it teaches acceptance rather than righteousness, and promotes lukewarmness rather than having a red hot passion for Christ!
The problem with Chameleon Christianity is the misconception that the church must blend in with the world around it in order to be relevant. At least that is what they tell themselves, the more likely reason is because they are afraid of being holy. Being Holy is different and can't fit in when we are different. Holiness isn't hip, holiness is lame. Holiness is old fashion. Holiness is 1950's. Holiness is women wearing long hair and denim skirts to their ankles. The world thinks holiness isn't cool and therefore some Christians get together and say 'well we will make it cool.' I have a newsflash for everyone, Holiness will never be cool, it will never be trendy, it will never be fashionable or en vogue - because while God defines what is acceptable and good so will the world, and the two will never be the same. Since you can not please them both, you end up like the Miler realizing trying to please all pleases none. Martin Lloyd Jones said “When the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it, it is then the world is made to listen to her message.” You are never going to win the world by being like the world.
In his book “The Church Awakening” Charles Swindoll wrote the following:
“we live in a time with a lot of technology and media. We can create things virtually that look real, we have high tech gadgets that were not available to previous generations, and we have learned that we can attract a lot of people to church if we use these things it will work. I began to see that happening about 20 years ago. It troubled me then and it is enormously troubling to me now, because the result of an entertainment mentality leads to biblical ignorance. Some time ago a group of church leaders decided that they didn't want to be hated so they focused on just attracting more and more people, but if we are here to offer something the world can't provide, why would we copy the world to do it?”
The greatest problem with Chameleanity is that it pretends to be the cure while it spreads the disease. Like an infected doctor going to patient to patient giving them something worse than what they came to get cured of. It not only renders the gospel ineffective but detrimental to true evangelism, those who are attracted to it, are attracted to the world not the word and those who are disenchanted with the world and are looking for Christ can't find him. Someone said “there is so much church in the world and world in the church you can't tell the difference between the two anymore.” That is the problem with blending in with the environment. We are trying to deliver people from the world and bring them to Christ, so why would use the very thing we are trying to deliver them from?
Transition: So I think that you can see the problem of Chameleanity, now lets examine the practice of Chameleanity.
The Practice of Chameleanity
The practice of Chameleanity is not only rejecting holiness it is embracing worldliness in order to hide Christ from others rather than introducing Christ to others. Today it seems that we think we must somehow smuggle Christ in to others. Like sneaking a vitamin in a piece of chocolate to get a toddler to eat it. One giveaway to being a Chameleon Christian is by the company you keep.
In 2 Corinthians 6:14, Paul lays down the line and writes “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” v.14 The point that Paul makes is that when there is such a conflict in interest, how can the two be joined together in fellowship? When you put a donkey and an ox under the same yoke you are going to have problem pulling the plow, because they are unequally yoked together. Paul follows this command with five rhetorical questions designed to make an exclamation point about Chameleanity. He asks: “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? What fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial (Devil)? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?
Our best friends and closest confidants need to be born again, spirit filled Christians not worldly unbelievers. Matthew Henry says “Believers are made light in the Lord, but unbelievers are in darkness; and what comfortable communion can these have together?” If there is no conflict of interest between us and the world, it may be time to examine ourselves to see whether or not we are in the faith.
Paul tells the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 15:33 “Do not be deceived, bad company ruins good morals.” I was talking with my brother who works with Juvenile delinquents, and he sees first hand the truth of this scripture. How many kids have the herd mentality and followed the wrong crowd and it got them into bad places doing bad things and continues to land them in trouble today. We become like the company we keep. This is why Solomon said “He who walks with the wise becomes wise, but a company of fools suffers harm.” Pro. 13:20 If you want to keep a good conscious then keep good company, because bad company makes bad men.
Some may be thinking “But I don't want to leave my worldly friends,” don't worry about it, the closer you get to Christ, the more they will leave you. Like oil and water darkness and light, the two don't mix. I can't tell you how many childhood friends and college acquaintances I have seen drift away from me over the years. But those Christian friends that I have made throughout the ministry, I still associate with and reckon I always will.
In fact when Paul was on the last leg of his ministry and about to be martyred and writes his dear friend Timothy to come and see him quickly, because he had been abandoned by his one time companion Demas. But he tells why Demas abandoned him, he writes: “for Demas, because he loved this present world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica . . .” 2 Timothy 4:10 Demas chose the world over Christ. Worldliness is the greatest cause of apostasy.
We can't expect fire to be anything but hot, or ice to be anything but cold, and we can't expect the world to be anything but worldly, and we can't expect to make any difference in their lives by being worldly. Paul says “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, Touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 2 Cor. 6:17
He makes it as clear as he can make it that there should be a difference between Christ's church and the world. He says to leave the world, come out from among it, maybe not physically, but certainly emotionally and spiritually. I want to clarify that I'm not suggesting that we escape the world and join a monastery and spend the rest of our days as a monk in a secluded place in the mountains, or that we should go and hide in a cave after we get saved, (although there have been times I've wanted to) No. There will be a day when there will only be believers surrounding us in a new kingdom.
Usually when we come upon this topic the argument we might hear the most is “Didn't Jesus eat with the sinners?” Yes it is true, Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors, and associate with prostitutes, Lepers, and Samaritans but while he ate with the sinners he walked with the saints and when he ate with the sinners he didn't sin. He didn't go along to get along, like Chameleon Christians do today. Or we might hear “Didn't Jesus say “it isn't the healthy that need a doctor but the sick” Yes. Because the sick need healing, just like the sinner needs salvation. But the healthy don't go out to be infected by their disease, 'Touch not the unclean thing' so they can identify with them, but its true that in order to cure them, we must be among them. After all, what good is the salt if it never leaves the salt shaker? The question is 'Are we being the influence or are we being influenced?' 'Are we being the cure, or are we catching the disease?'
Ill. There is a certain stretch of road I travel to go hunting and I notice that as I travel North that once I approach the acreage I'm about to hunt on when I look at my GPS it reads East. I was determined to figure out this mystery, so the next time I went off to hunt Turkey early one morning I took note of my direction. I realized that very slight turns spaced out over the distance had me thinking I was traveling in the general northward direction when I was actually going east. You see, a series of small compromises will have you going in a totally different direction than you believe you are going.
Does your Christianity influence the world around you or does the world around you influence you? I can only speak for myself but I imagine that I am not the only one that feels more comfortable around the Timothys of the world, than I do the Demas of the world. I feel more at home and at peace with those who have as much devotion to the Lord as I do.
Transition: We've seen the problem of Chameleanity, and we examined the Practice of Chameleanity, now let's explore the Prevention of Chameleanity.
The Prevention of Chameleanity
There is a one word cure for Chameleon Christianity it is . . . FAITH. To prevent it you must put complete faith in God because nothing but faith in God is going to allow you to choose God over the world. Its not in our nature to reject what the world calls good. So we must change our nature and model it after Christ.
The best way to understand Chameleon Christians is that they just do not have faith.
They don't believe in hell so they don't flee it. They don't really believe in heaven so they don't seek it. They don't really believe in holiness, so they don't live it. They don't really believe in wrong so they don't practice what's right. They don't really believe they sin, so they don't need Jesus. They have no faith. Heb. 11:6 says “And without faith it is impossible to please God . . .”
Having said all that there is a piece of irony here, there is something about Chameleons that I did not know, Chameleons will also turn bright colors when they want to communicate what they love and what excites them. So while they can blend in with their environment for safety they can stand out from their environment when they are communicating love to others. We should stand out communicating our love in Christ to others
“But if I stand out, won't that make me vulnerable to the world?” Yes it will. A bright red chameleon amongst a back ground of green leaves is sure to catch every creatures attention. That is the Point! Christ is coming back for a bride that stands out from the world she lives in. Joseph Clark said “Most people would rather face a cannon than ridicule.”
“If you loved the world the world would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:19
Ill. Two men were on a shoe shine stand getting their shoes shined. The little black boy got a little polish on the socks of a business man. The man cursed and kicked the shine boy in the mouth, knocking the little boy down. The business man got off the stand, still cursing the shoe shine boy and walked away without paying.
The shoe shine boy got up of the floor and wiped his bloody mouth with a dirty shine rag. As he began to wipe the shoes of the next customer on the stand, who happened to be an evangelist, he heard the little boy sing softly, almost under his breath, “It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.”
All the pain, trial, tribulation, hardship, disappointments will all be worth it once Jesus comes!
To stand out from the world is exactly what Christ wants. We are to be different than the world we live in, and while it may attract predators it also lights the way for those who are truly seeking him.
Jesus said “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matt. 5:13
If we don't stand out and be different than our surroundings, we are good for nothing more than being thrown out among the dirt, because if there is no flavor in us than there is no difference in us and the dirt anyway. Jesus then said “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill can not be hidden.” Mt 5:14 It is the light that the world needs to see in us and as long as we don't put it under a bowl and put it on a stand and let it shine for everyone to see we will be like the stars that stand out in the night sky and the lighthouse that is seen from a sea of darkness. It makes no sense to have the light and hide it in order to avoid being seen, and it makes no sense to practice Chameleanity.
It didn't bother Moses to come out from among them and be separate. We read about his faith in Hebrews: “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharoah's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” - Hebrews 11:24, 25
What a contrast we have in Demas who abandoned Paul because he loved this world and Moses a man of faith, that refused fame, power, and all kinds of pleasure. Moses rejected what many of us strive for; success, prestige, riches. Demas abandoned Paul for the world, Moses could have lived in luxury and ease and pomp and opulence for the rest of his life! Instead, by faith he chose a life of suffering and affliction in the desert.
With the all of the pleasures at his grasp, you can only imagine the temptation that a world of riches, and it wasn't as if he did this in his old age either, Moses was in his prime to enjoy it, but instead he turned his back on the Egyptian world and that world chased him as he left bringing all of its armies and chariots, and soldiers, and God delivered him and his people, time and time again, then made him a leader, a prophet, and consequently made him a legend, even though it was never the desire of a humble Moses to be one. Nevertheless “. .the last will be first, ...” Luke 13:30
It is amazing what God will do with those who will only humble themselves and put their faith in him and step out from the world and be the salt and light we are called to be.
Conclusion: We hear about the Zika virus on the news and how it could be a pandemic. A pandemic is a world wide outbreak. It comes from the Greek word pandemos 'pan' - “all” and 'demos' - “people” My concern is that Chameleanity could spread. When I read 2 Timothy 3, I see that my fears are justified it says in verse 2 “People will be . . .” that is a definitive statement. It means that it will happen. Then in verse 5 Paul describes a people that will not be lovers of good but will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God and that they will have a form of godliness but deny its power. It is going to take more than a FORM of godliness in our days to win people to Christ! We are going to need true godliness to face the flood of filth that is coming our way!
If that is the state of the last day church, the world is truly in danger. If the church is being ignored because we preach hope instead of hype, or considered irrelevant because we preach “... Jesus Christ and him crucified.” I Cor. 2:2 rather than “... I wish above all things you may prosper...” or mocked because we convict hearts rather than tickle ears, then so be it. Lets be the last of the hold outs that are determined to finish this race with Christ. If all others go the way of the world, let our prayer be that our church never does. If everyone runs to blend in with an evil culture to avoid ridicule let our motto be the same as Jonathan Edwards famous quote “Resolved I will live for God and if no one else does, I STILL WILL.” Amen.
