do you see the difference?

"A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart directs him toward the left. Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool." (Ecclesiastes 10:2-3)

All of my good friends know that Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books of the Bible. In fact, I would say its in the top 5, along with Ephesians, 2 Corinthians, Genesis and Job. Anyway. As many times as I had read Ecclesiastes, I had never really thought about the above verses until Becca pointed them out to me last summer. 

I've thought about them a lot since then. About what they mean to us as believers.

Basically the first verse is saying that the wise man and the fool are headed in opposite directions. One is going to the right and one to the left. They have nothing to do with each other. 

2 Corinthians 6:14-15 says: "...for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?" The implied answer? Nothing! Believers and unbelievers have nothing in common, just as Christ has nothing in common with the devil and his demons. 

Now, the second verse is the one that Becca pointed out ot me. She said, "Its just so interesting to me. Like, if you were walking down the road and you just randomly think, 'oh she has a pretty sweater' or whatever...well, it would be like seeing someone walking down the road and thinking, 'yep, that person's a fool.' It's just crazy." 

At the time it sounded so strange to me. I honestly wondered how you could tell. 

And then it struck me...

We can't/don't recognize fools because believers don't act any different than unbelievers.

That is the problem, friends. The problem isn't that my eyes aren't very good; it's that fools don't stand out anymore. When King Solomon wrote this passage, you could tell a fool from a child of Yahweh; you could tell a religious person from someone who didn't believe.

It isn't like that anymore. You can't tell.

That saddens me. How can we as Christians be the light of the world, the city on a hill, if we do everything that unbelievers do? The majority of Christians watch all the movies, read all the novels, listen to all the music, wear the clothes, drink, smoke, get tattoos...you name it, they do it. 

Please understand. I'm not trying to be legalistic here. (More on legalism to come soon!) Heaven forbid! But if we, as followers of Christ, don't act like He would, we are not fulfilling our task. Jesus stood out in a crowd! You could tell Jesus from a fool. If you were walking down the road in Galilee and saw Jesus on one side of the road and a fool on the other, I guarantee you that you could tell the difference.

I do not want to appear judgmental. Trust me, I'm guilty in this area. It's so easy to hide the real you. When you are around unbelievers or around believers who act like unbelievers, it easy to just act like one of them. I know from personal experience that it's the easy thing to do to just bring up a secular band you listen to, or find some area of common ground instead of bringing up God, or mentioning your personal standards. 

 Why is there no noticeable difference between the majority of Christians and unbelievers? 

When I think about it, it makes me mad at myself. But I think I know why. We might not admit that this is really what it is, but I'm going to be honest on this blog. (As always).

It's because we're ashamed.   

We don't want to be associated with the name of Jesus/God/church. We don't want to be known as someone who is a Jesus freak. Yeah, we may go to church every Sunday, pray in Sunday school, lead Sonrise choir, sing in Adult Choir, but heck, we don't want anyone to know that. (I just used examples of things I'm involved in).

Why? Why are we ashamed to be known as Christ-followers? Why do we hide inside our shells? I've discovered something. I'm more open and honest about my faith in four different situations. First, when I'm with my family. Secondly, with my best friend. Thirdly, on this blog. Fourthly, in my Sunday school class. But you put me in a room with unbelievers, or even Christians who don't share my standards, and I'll clam up. 

I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to be ashamed of the God who came and died for me. If He isn't ashamed to call me His, I sure as heck shouldn't be ashamed to be known as His. 

So do you want to join me? As my Sunday school teacher said when I brought this up to her, "You can be the one to rock the world. You can love Jesus like crazy and be different." So let's rock the world. Let's love Jesus without worrying about what anyone thinks of us. Let's be different from the fools.