Called to Be Outcasts- Together

Human nature says to fit in. If you're thrown into a very awkward uncomfortable situation, you're going to try to make the best of things- right? You're going to try to fit in, to blend into the woodwork on the wall, and pretend you aren't there.

Well, that's the problem, isn't it? It's human nature for us to try to fit into this world, because we'e human, But, it's like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole.

We don't fit at all.

That's because we aren't of this world, we're supernatural. We're trying to fit into a place that isn't our home, a place that's a middleman. We were never created to fit in down here.

This world is full of sin, sin roams the streets, the devil steals souls, and temptation floods through the cracks of houses. We live in a world controlled by sin- so why do we try to fit in here?

In Romans 12:2 it says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Eventually if you pretend, and you act like something's real- if you act like someone you're not, to quote High School Musical (sorry), that's who you become.

God says to not conform ourselves to the pattern of this sinful world we live in.

Then in, Jeremiah 30:17, He says, "But I will restore you to health, And heal your wounds, declares the Lord. Because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares."

We aren't just called to not fit in here- we're called to be outcasts.

Pause.
Hang on.

We're supposed to be outcasts? We're supposed to be totally different from everyone else on this earth?
Yes, we are. Because we're not of this earth.

People will see you as an outcast. They will see that, and they will think to themselves, "What is UP with them?" But in doing this, you'll intrigue them.

This person who stands before them, who wants nothing to do with the world, who wants nothing to do with sinful nature, and who doesn't want to fit in at all, will interest people. They'll be perplexed.

And curiosity is the beginning of wisdom.

The coolest part I found about this, was when I was reading Acts the other day. Paul is speaking about the fellowship of the believers in chapter 2, and is explaining how they all congregated together, to eat, and pray.
It says, "All the believers were together, and had all things in common."

And then my mind went into overdrive, and I went back and read the  verses directly before that, where Paul stands up to talk to the crowd. At this point he was explaining to everyone there how they could all speak to each other even though they all spoke different languages. It was sort of like the reversal of The Tower Of Babel.

Now, here's the kicker,and what just blew my mind. It says, "Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews of every nation."

Okay.

So.

We have people of every nation, from different families, different backgrounds, different jobs, speaking different languages, looking nothing like each other all congregated, okay?

These people are the most random bunch of people you ever met in your life. It's like if you walked into Target, and just stood there and watched people.
Those people are all different right?
It was a crowd just like that.

Totally different people.

So how, on earth, in the next chapter can it say that they had everything in common?
When we know for certain that their jobs, their nationalities, their languages, all of that, were different?

How can they be the same?

Because they're outcasts together.

The one thing every single person gathered around listening to Paul had in common was that they were God-fearing. 
They had the breath of God living inside them, his Holy Spirit residing in their soul.

God covers everything else. His love and grace covers our job, it covers what kind of house we have, what kind of car we own, how many kids we have, where we live, who we talk to, what we do.

It covers it all, because none of it matters.

All those things, are things of this earth. Things we're not defined by.

What mattered to them, and what should matter to us, is that God called us to be outcasts together.

He called us to find the people who have seemingly nothing in common with us, but God. He calls us to rally with those people to bring others to Him. He calls us to love the people of this world-just not the sin of this world. He calls us to laugh in the world's face as we accept that we're different. We were born different, we will die different.

And we will spend forever in eternity.

Different. 

Outcast.

Cast out of this world, and into Heaven.