Disciples Must Dare to Be Different

Dare to be different! That was the title of one of  my morning messages as well as a motto for my life. Be different! It will get people’s attention and possibly point them to Christ! John the Baptist was one of those “different” guys. To be honest, he was just plain weird! What kind of guy would dress and eat like he did except a really weird dude. Weird? Yes! Effective? You bet!

Let’s look at four ways John the Baptist was different:

  1. His approach.  John the Baptist was different is his approach. He colored outside the lines. If we are going to be effective as followers of Christ and as churches, we will need to color outside the lines of tradition, but not outside the lines of the Word of God.
  2. His diet. John the Baptist’s diet was unusual to say the least. He ingested locusts and wild honey. We must ingest spiritual food if we want to be disciples–food that most the world and lots of Christians do not ingest on a regular basis. We must ingest God’s word. The best method is a steady diet that allows us to digest what we ingest. See Read the Bible for help in this area.
  3. His look.  John the Baptist must have designed his own clothing. He wore clothing made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist.  Our clothing should set us apart because it is modest and appropriate for Christians to wear.  We should not be possessed with “image,” but we should strive to “be made in His image.”
  4. His outlook! John the Baptist was so different from the religious leaders of his day that it captured the people’s attention. He was humble and unpretentious, just as we should be.

In the spirit of John Baptist, I challenge you to dare to be different! Dare to be a disciple! Dare to be like Jesus!

2 Comments

  1. Darrell,

    Don’t you just love Erwin McManus? I think every Christian man ought to read “The Barbarian Way” early in his walk with Christ. I think I’ll review the book for an upcoming post.

  2. I agree “mushroom eaters” (barbarian way) stand out. Count me in the weird category….of course you already knew that!

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