When we are young and growing up it seems so important to "fit in" . According to the dictionary to fit in means to "be socially compatible with other members of a group". A synonym for "fitting in" is to "conform". To put it in simple terms it is when you try to be like everyone else.
According to an article in Psychology Today, " If we’re doing the same as everyone else, we must be doing it right, and finding a reflection of ourselves in those around us is a form of validation. The need for acceptance is a basic human instinct – although some value it more than others. We all want to fit in, to belong. "
This is how the world views "fitting in". This is not how we as Christians should view it nor is it how Christ viewed it.
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." John 15: 18-19
Doesn't it seem strange that Jesus, who loved people and healed them of sickness, who taught in the temple, "as one who had authority" (Matthew 7:29), would be hated. Jesus would be hated, despised, and rejected to the point where He would be given a criminal's death on a cross. And for what? Because His teachings were not of "the world". Jesus tells us that we are also not "of the world".
In John 16: 33 Jesus tells His followers this:
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Jesus doesn't say you may have tribulation, He says you will have tribulation. He says that in the face of this tribulation you can still have peace. Where will we find this peace? In Him. Our peace is not of this world. Our peace comes from trusting God. We are to take courage in our tribulation because Jesus has "overcome the world." The word overcome is from a Greek word that we translate in English as the word "Nike". Nike was a Greek goddess who represented the victory of a conquering hero. Notice that Jesus says "I have" overcome the world, which shows that His victory is ongoing, not a onetime event.
In John 17: 14-16 in Jesus's wonderful prayer for His disciples (and for us) He says:
"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."
Jesus prays to the Father and asks Him for our protection from Satan. We live in this world, we work, we marry, we live our day to day lives like those around us, and yet Jesus says again that we "are not of the world."
In Romans 12:2 Paul reminds us:
"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."
Paul says don't be conformed, in other words, don't fit in. Maybe you have heard the expression that Christians should be "in the world, but not of the world". What does that really mean? It is difficult, not just difficult but extremely difficult, because we are called as Christians to "not fit in". We are representatives of Christ on earth. The only thing many people know about Jesus is what they see in us when we interact with them.
Some people choose to try and follow Christ by completely removing themselves from the world. If we do this then we remove our influence on the world. Some people choose to try and compromise with the world. They don't want to look "too different". They may go to church on Sunday but they aren't going to stand out from their friends as being that different.
But how can we live this differentness out? How can we "be in the world but not of it" successfully? By praying every day that we would be guarded from temptation and by studying the word. Jesus continues in John 17: 17 to pray this:
"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth."
Sanctified means "set apart" or "holy". This sanctification comes from the word of God because the word is truth. Like John says at the very beginning of his gospel, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. "
When we become a Christian, we are signing on to be hated, persecuted and to endure tribulations. Doesn't sound much like "fitting in" does it? Can we expect to be treated any differently than our Savior was? And yet we can still find peace, the peace that "passes understanding" (Philippians 4:7), and we find that peace by living our lives in Christ.
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