What Makes Us Different?

             What distinguishes Christians from all the other people on the face of the earth?  Have you ever thought about that?  What makes us different?  What makes us stand apart from the crowd?

Moses asked a very similar question after the Israelites sinned by making a golden calf and worshipping it.  Needless to say, God was not pleased with them.  In Exodus 33, He told Moses to take the people and go into the land that He had promised them.  He said He would send an Angel before them to drive out the people that were there but then He added, “But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way” (Exodus 33: 3b NIV84).  After the Israelites cried and mourned, Moses went to God and asked, “What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:16b NIV84).

Moses knew that without the presence of God, the Israelites were no different from any other people.  His Presence was the only thing that made them different.  Why? Because He is holy.  In Exodus 19, God called them His “treasured possession” and He declared them to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19: 6b NIV84).  However, that declaration was premised on their obedience to Him.  To be set apart from all peoples, they had to have God’s presence with them, but they also had to be obedient to Him.

So, I ask again.  What sets us apart as Christians?  Jesus said, “By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 13: 35 NIV84).  John elaborated on that theme in I John, where he reminds us that we do not know God if we do not love others because God is love (I John 4:8).  It sounds simple; love is what sets us apart, but what does “love” look like?  We use that word so casually, that perhaps we have forgotten what it means.  John said it takes “actions and in truth” (I John 3:  18).  That requires obedience, just as Christ obeyed the Father by going to the cross.

God showed His love for us by sending His Son to die for us.  There is no greater love than that!  He didn’t just say He loved us; He showed us through His actions.  My question to each of us who call ourselves “Christians” is, “What sets us apart from the rest of the world?”  Right now, our country and the world are filled with hatred, anger, and distrust.  Do our actions set us apart from that hatred?  How can we represent the love of Christ in a world that is hurling towards eternity without Him? How can we be obedient to Him and fulfill His mission?

Just like the Israelites, we have His presence with us.  We have the Holy Spirit living within us. That Power is the same Power that raised Christ from the dead.  I think it’s time that we tap into our Power source and show the world what love is.  Only God’s presence and the love we show others will make us different from all the other people on the earth.

I John 3: 16 – 4: 12

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