Most people want to fit in. Most are trend followers, not trend setters. We wear the same clothes, drive similar looking vehicles, even style our hair the same ways…well those who have hair.
Throughout my life I have tried to fit in. I always have. I am also an introvert. I don’t care for attention. I often deflect the attention to the extroverts around me, and I am more than okay with that.
But the more I pursue God’s mission in my life, I find that I “fit in” less and less.
From my experience, if you live out God’s mission for your life—You will be different!
The question is will “not fitting in” keep you from living a life on mission?
Will you consider using your wealth for His purpose and not your own? Would you become a one salary household so one of you can stay at home with young foster children? What about spending your vacation serving others in a poverty-stricken community instead of someone serving you in an upscale resort.
Any time a person decides to embrace their mission, they remove themselves from the masses. And people take notice.
For example, this summer, millions of people will tune into the summer olympics to watch thousands of world-class athletes compete. We will hear story after story about the sacrifices these athletes made so they could pursue their dream.
These athletes discovered their mission and pursued it. For some that meant not attending school like theirs peers. For others it meant delaying financial gain.
For all it definitely meant that they were different from their peers.
Think about the people we remember throughout history. Aren’t they the ones who stood out from the crowd? I propose that’s because they understood, at least at some level, their mission, and pursued it even though many times they didn’t fit in.
You too probably will be different if you embrace God’s mission for your life. But you are meant to be different!
God doesn’t crank us out like a cookie cutter to look and act the same. Haven’t you heard the saying, “When God made you He threw away the mold?” There is truth to that statement. He gifts each of us with different talents, abilities, and interests for a reason.
Yet we spend a lifetime of attempting to look and act like someone else. Sadly that rarely fulfills.
Also, when we resist the mission that God has for us because we would rather not stand out from the crowd, someone somewhere suffers because of it. God’s mission always involves you meeting another person’s needs.
So what will it be? Will you resist the temptation to fit in and live the mission God has for you?
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