(Isaiah 8:11)
"The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does."
Jesus, praying to The Father at the last supper, made the statement that we are "not of this world any more than He is of this world.” He went on to pray, "I am not asking You to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one."
As foreigners on temporary assignment, we must have right thinking. In a 2004 study by Clarke and Garrett, native English speakers demonstrated accent adaptation within one minute of conversing with foreign-accented English speakers.
How many of us, upon traveling to a new city, have been asked, "Where are you from? You have an accent." In this moment, we are always caught off guard. "We have an accent?" Throughout our entire lives we have spoken this way. Everyone around us speaks this way. Our accent is not something we choose or consider; rather, it is something formed by our environment, a part of our story and our identity. Yet something that takes our entire lives to form, changes within one minute of interacting with an outside influence...
While accent adaptation shows that God has created us as social beings with an ability and desire to communicate, it also highlights our susceptibility to outside influences.
We live as foreigners, on mission, in a hostile land. We are "sent as sheep among wolves".
In this land, there is an enemy, and this enemy is in a position of power. To the native population, he is not an enemy at all but is their leader and their god. When they worship, they worship him. When they sing songs of praise, it is in his name. When they seek guidance and speculate on the future, it is him they put their trust in.
God, who placed us in this land "for such a time as this", does not intend that we hide in a cave, away from all influence. He does not want us to plug our ears and avoid the conversations around us, or to find a circle of our countrymen and carve out our own space in which we can live unbothered by the rest of the inhabitants. On the contrary! God, when He views this desolate land full of sickness and depravity, calls out, to anyone with ears to hear, "Who shall I send? Who will go for us?" for "His eyes search the entire earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him".
If you are one of these Citizens of Heaven who, by the grace of God, have stood and said, "Here I am, send me," you, also, have been "given a strong warning".
Just as a soldier sent to a far-off land does not pack his flip-flops and floral shirt, expecting a vacation, but rather packs his duty equipment, anticipating an assignment, so should we enter our workplaces, our social gatherings, and even our homes with the same attitude. Lest, like a tourist who, forgetting where he is from, completely assimilates into the culture around him, ignoring his name and way of life.
In this foreign land of opposite thinking, the inhabitants’ fears are misplaced. Whereas in the city we are from, God is "Holy, Holy, Holy", fully able to deliver us from any situation or danger, able to sustain us in all seasons and circumstances, and offers complete fulfillment for all our needs, the foreign land is in a constant state of conspiracy. It seems that everything and everyone is against each other. It feels as if the entire system is poised on the edge of collapse, with every passing day bringing new fears and instructions on what is needed to prepare. Constantly, a new person or people is proclaimed as Enemy. In this foreign land, the inhabitants themselves are the army, and in the absence of any clear system of leadership, each person takes it upon themselves to defend what they believe to be a hill worth dying on. They live in constant fear and dread, constantly looking over their shoulder. Intently, they listen, so that they might catch a slip-up and be able to point out the enemy hiding among them. With only themselves in charge of their own safety, they live in a state of constant suspicion and conflict.
Recognizing that we are susceptible to such a high degree of influence, we must be vigilant to ensure that we do not forget our own culture and way of living. We must not look at the individual beams of a broken house, which is falling all around us, and try, with the inhabitants, to find some temporary method of propping it up. We must state, clearly and confidently, that this house is in fact falling and that when it falls, it will be "with a great crash". We must stand at that “narrow door” and call out to anyone who will listen, "abandon ship!" "Get out before it is too late!"
No matter the happenings within this house, no matter how intriguing or awful or entertaining or captivating, we must not move from our post. We must stay close to that door frame, ever alert and constantly oriented. We must be ready in every moment to show others the way out, grabbing them by the arm as they pass by, if needed.
One day, Jesus grabbed one of these men and said, "Follow me", and the man replied, "First, let me go and bury my father". Jesus responded, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Jesus tells us that "the road that leads to life is narrow and only a few find it." He paints a picture of a world of zombies! People who appear to be alive but are actually dead.
In the same vein, God says to us, "Shouldn't people ask god for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?"
In a hyper-connected world, where you are constantly bombarded with the thoughts and opinions of people you have never met and know nothing about, how often are you receiving guidance, consciously or passively, from someone who is spiritually dead?
God tells us that "people who contradict my words are completely in the dark!" Yet how often have we spent hours in front of the TV or our phones, letting blind, ignorant people tell us how afraid and without hope we should be? They claim to offer us insight, claiming to have seen something we have not, and we believe them! They have seen nothing, yet we allow ourselves to spend countless hours enthralled with their stories. This robs us of our peace, sending us down rabbit holes that lead nowhere. Would not our time be better spent coming to God? Is there a question or a mystery that He can not answer?
Proverbs tells us, "It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them." God has placed it in our hearts to research and to discover. We all seek intrigue and drama, and there is nothing wrong with that! God has created a system in which this desire can be satisfied in Him. A system that actually leads to something meaningful, which is fellowship in Him! If we want real answers and want to reach the end of the road, let us bring our desire to uncover to Him, and He will reveal true things to us, not speculation
God does not expect us to remove ourselves from this world. When He gives us instructions and commands, it is not to oppress us or rob us of enjoyment. It is simply to protect us from our enemy and from our own destructive nature. These instructions serve as a reminder that we are not of this world, not bound to its customs or under the power that controls it. He does not wish for us to assimilate. He calls us to be salt and light and warns us that if "salt loses its saltiness, of what use is it?"
God shows us the life of someone whose hope lies only in this world in Isaiah 8:21-22
"They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward. Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness."
He paints a picture of a people group who are completely blind, hungry, and constantly burdened. They look about them and find no rest or satisfaction. They angrily lash out, looking for someone to blame, but find no one. They search for a meaning behind it all and come up with nothing. They live a life of anguish and depression, with the ultimate destination being the total absence of the only source of good in this universe.
Let us not go to these people for any other reason than to lead them to the one who can save them. Let us not waste any time arguing over the layout of a house that is actively collapsing around us. Let us stand at our post and carry out the mission we have been assigned, never forgetting that we are foreigners and that our home is an eternal one. That our rooms are already prepared and our needs already accounted for. Those problems have been resolved, and victory achieved.
Let us heed God's warning that we "do not think as everyone else thinks".
Let us make "The LORD of Heaven’s Armies HOLY in our lives."