If you died with Christ to the way the world thinks and acts, why do you submit to rules and regulations as though you were living in the world?  – Colossians 2:20

I am not an expert in all things Star Trek, but one of my favorite scenes in the classic series comes from a feature-length movie where the Starship Enterprise gets caught in some kind of a time warp and they end up in late-twentieth century San Fransisco (Star Trek IV: the Voyage Home, 1996).

So they beam down in their Star-Fleet uniforms. Mr. Spock is part of the landing party, dressed as a Vulcan. And Captain Kirk says something to his crew like, “Try to blend in.”

Blending in is a survival skill. When our children were in Middle School we would often say, “Try to keep a low profile.” Because being noticed is not always what you want, especially if you are struggling.

But then we read the Bible and we learn that the last thing God want from us is to be just like everyone else. Wanting to “Be like all the other nations” just about destroyed Israel. Jesus constantly invites us to abandon the standards and the values and the priorities of the world around us, and here Paul is suggesting that we should be – essentially – subversive.

“Try to blend in…?” I don’t think so. The invitation of the Gospel is not only to obviously not live as subjects to false values and priorities, but to live in such a way that we implicitly undermine what is antithetical to God’s Kingdom.

Think about what Jesus came to put right. Do we go along to get along? Or do we live in ways that serve to disrupt the status quo?

Does the world even notice that we follow Jesus? – DEREK