Heroism is hard work without a good soundtrack. You see it in the difference between who we love to watch and who we love to be. Sitting in the cinema, we cheer for the person who stands up against injustice and we imagine ourselves bravely making the same stand. However, when we’re actually faced with the chance to stand up for something, to stand out from the crowd, we often shrink back. Without a stirring soundtrack, our dreams of standing out fade away. We prefer the comfort and security of fitting in with those around us.
Christians at uni face this conflict of desires every day. When a classmate dismisses the Bible as a book of fables that science has disproved or a friend describes their alcohol-and-sex-soaked weekend, what do you do? Do you say something and stand out or do you nod, smile awkwardly and fit in?
As we think about these little crises, we need to realise that our desire to stand out and our desire to fit in are both good desires. It’s right to stand up for what is right, but God also created us as people who want to belong (see the glowing way in which Proverbs talks about friendship; for example, Proverbs 17:17; 18:24; 27:6, 9). This means our inner conflict is not a choice between a good desire (standing out) and a suspect one (fitting in). In fact, that’s not really the choice we’re making at all. We’re actually choosing where we’re going to fit in. Am I going to fit in with these non-Christians around me, or am I going to fit in with Jesus and my Father? Jesus underlines the starkness of this choice when he says,
“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:25-26)
When we choose to stand up and stand out for Jesus, we’re never choosing to not fit in. Instead, we’re choosing to advertise the fact that we belong to an eternal family, to an enduring kingdom and to the Maker, Rescuer and Ruler of all things.