Misfits in the World

If you love Jesus Christ with all your heart, soul, and mind, you will be a misfit among family and even in most church settings.

You will be treated contemptuously with dismissiveness, subtle ignoring, and even mockery because you are not like those others who all blend with one another.

The love and acceptance everyone else enjoys will not include you. Some may even be friendly to you but exclude you when the others show up.

Any attempt to engage in a conversation with the others will be met with empty stares and disregard as though they never heard your comments or think that you said something outrageous when it was merely Biblical.

The interesting thing is "the others" don't want you to be or do anything, but they want you to show up. A long time ago God enlightened me about this dynamic. I asked God why "the others" wanted me to show up at the gathering but extended no respect while I was there, the answer came back loudly and clearly, "they want you to come so you can see them ignoring you."

If we don't show up at the gatherings of superficial friendliness, we are seen as not validating those who wish to damage and disable our confidence. They have no tolerance for those who are different from them as we walk in our own assurance about truth and good old-fashioned horse sense. The group thinkers are intimidated by those who have confidence in what they believe and can stand alone with Christ.

There is no validation from the world for the Christ-follower. If anyone says they are a Christian but are cursed with popularity I have to believe they are compromising in something to remain well-liked by the group-thinkers.

We know this is true because of what God told us in His word about how people would treat us when we are completely dedicated to Christ.

Matthew 10:22 "22 You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved."

John 15:18-21

"If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. / Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well."

This is what is happening to all of us who are willing to disregard the world and embrace the truth of Christ. He is called "the WORD", He is the Author of the Bible, and every command and principle are our marching orders and instruction for this life.

Those who use the Bible as a book of good suggestions will ignore parts of His word and misinterpret other parts to fit into their desired belief. They are dishonest people, claiming to love Christ while spurning anyone who suggests we follow Him and what He has written.

There is no more freedom than to walk with Christ no matter how we are treated by the world, even the "Christian worldly system" that has devalued Christ on many levels while claiming to love Him. Most Christians today like the idea of Christ as the lover and protector but refuse to face that He is also a God of justice and great wrath for those who refuse to love His Word.

Matthew 15:8-9

"8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

9 And in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

John 16:1-4

“I have told you these things so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me."

Notice the passage in John, "They will put you out of the synagogues", it reminds me of what is going on right now in the organized churches of our day. If we challenge these groups to obey the Word of God, who claim to be Christian, we are put out in the sense that we are ignored and secretly derided in gossip to keep others from listening to us.

I know this might sound strange, but I praise God that He opened my eyes to these tactics of the devil to keep people who claim to be Christian from seeking Christ. Most people who say they are Christians don't know the Bible and have many false beliefs they think are in the Bible but are not there. They would rather listen to their favorite "pastor" than seek Christ themselves in prayer and Bible study.

My advice to any born-again believer is to stop accepting everything a preacher says and know the Bible well enough that you will be able to discern when a preacher has misrepresented Christ on some level. When we do this we can listen while taking what is true and openly proclaiming what is false so that others will be warned about the errors, while using Scripture to prove every point.

The world hates to be accountable to anyone or anything, they are rebellious and contemptuous toward truth even while claiming they have the truth.

When we know these things we can walk in joy and peace that God is with us as we navigate through all the muck on this earth before He takes us Home.

1 Timothy 1:18-20 "…18 Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command in keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.…"

Brothers and Sisters, walk confidently with Christ as you ignore the noise of those who are not walking with Christ.