"It isn't enough to stand up and fight darkness. You've got to stand apart from it, too. You've got to be different from it."
I have a new favorite quote. It comes, from all places, a fantasy book about a professional wizard in Chicago: The Dresden Files. I absolutely love that quote, though. It has a lot of implications.
It's not enough to do right. It's not enough to have pure motives. We need to be right. It reminds me of Romans 12:2:
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
It's easy for me to "do good." I like to volunteer, it's, dare I say, fun. Nothing better than going to the homeless shelter on a Friday night, or spending it cooking a meal at the Battered Woman's shelter, although it is a little awkward for me at the Bridge (the battered woman's shelter), being the big and burly man that I am. They got used to me, though.
It's easy to stand up and fight the darkness of the world. It's easy to go out there and make a difference. It's hard, though, to stand apart from the darkness. I can be out there doing my part to help the world, but I'm living in the darkness myself, the darkness being sin. It's easy to fight the darkness while you're living in it. It's hard to separate yourself from the darkness, though.
Sin can feel so good, sometimes. It's easy to get comfortable in the darkness. We are commanded, though, to get away from the patterns of the world. We need to transform ourselves out of the darkness, and we can only do that with the help of Jesus. As much pain as it can be, we need to stand apart from the darkness. As Christians we have to be different. We have to stand out from the crowd. We can't be ordinary, because Christ demands us to ooze righteousness. It's time to get out of the darkness, and stand in the light next to Jesus. It's time to fight for righteousness. We've got to stand up in this fallen world.
I have a new favorite quote. It comes, from all places, a fantasy book about a professional wizard in Chicago: The Dresden Files. I absolutely love that quote, though. It has a lot of implications.
It's not enough to do right. It's not enough to have pure motives. We need to be right. It reminds me of Romans 12:2:
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
It's easy for me to "do good." I like to volunteer, it's, dare I say, fun. Nothing better than going to the homeless shelter on a Friday night, or spending it cooking a meal at the Battered Woman's shelter, although it is a little awkward for me at the Bridge (the battered woman's shelter), being the big and burly man that I am. They got used to me, though.
It's easy to stand up and fight the darkness of the world. It's easy to go out there and make a difference. It's hard, though, to stand apart from the darkness. I can be out there doing my part to help the world, but I'm living in the darkness myself, the darkness being sin. It's easy to fight the darkness while you're living in it. It's hard to separate yourself from the darkness, though.
Sin can feel so good, sometimes. It's easy to get comfortable in the darkness. We are commanded, though, to get away from the patterns of the world. We need to transform ourselves out of the darkness, and we can only do that with the help of Jesus. As much pain as it can be, we need to stand apart from the darkness. As Christians we have to be different. We have to stand out from the crowd. We can't be ordinary, because Christ demands us to ooze righteousness. It's time to get out of the darkness, and stand in the light next to Jesus. It's time to fight for righteousness. We've got to stand up in this fallen world.
