Set-Apart? Or Settled-In?

This past week, I have seen a new craze throughout Facebook as an awareness for breast cancer. In "the spirit of raising awareness" all the women are and were encouraged to share the color of their - ahem - top. Just one word, one color, posted in their status to let the whole world know that they support cancer awareness. How ingenious!

Of course, I did not participate. And my naive' self thought "Surely no Christian lady would!" How wrong I've been. I was stunned speechless when one girl after another - both young and old - gladly and proudly posted her "color." And before I knew it, the boys jumped in, giving their brand of underthings all in the name of a good cause. I naturally had a response. For a Christian to post the color of their undergarments, then stand up in Church and sing, testify, preach or teach is a shame and a disgrace to our Holy God who said "COME OUT" from among the world and "BE YE SEPARATE!" What happened to modesty and purity among God's women? Where are the Ruths? The Marys? The Hannahs? What happened to nobility and honor among the men? Where are the Davids? The Peters? The Joshuas? Sadly, it's not the lost people that argue, it's the Christians. It's the Church. It's God's people who have a strikingly amazing ability to let their pride have full control. I have been met with the typical...

The Bible says not to judge!

Stay out of my business!

It's not your place to tell me what's wrong and what's right!

God has not convicted me!

I am NOT going to hell!

My sin is no different than your sin!

God loves me just as much as you!

Quit starting fights! etc. etc. etc.

I find it odd that with one correction, people can jump to the most off-the-topic-issue they can think of. For example:

"Hey, you shouldn't be doing that. It's not holy, it will cause others to stumble. It's not right."

"I am not going to hell! Quit judging me! God loves me the same as you!"

Okay....

However, in the midst of such ridiculousness, I have been touched, blessed, encouraged and edified seeing many stand up and defend set-apart living, and in hearing several say "Oh my! I shouldn't have done that. Everyone, please forgive me for being so thoughtless!" Amen. :)

But I am forever amazed at how quickly we can forget the true meaning of holiness. Moreover, I'm amazed at how shallow and self-oriented the Church has become. A topic such as declaring to the world your "brand/color" is debated and defended by Preachers, Pastors, youth leaders, and Church members. God help us! Deeming it their "right" and throwing around "opinions"....forgetting that according to 1 Corinthians 6:19, we have no right and we have no opinions of our own. ALL is dead and is now the property of Christ. Yet there are still debates; Christians still fussing and arguing over how "innocent and noble" it all is. While lost people die and slip into eternity, the Christians stumble around, wasting their lives living for themselves. While orphans are abandoned, while 5-year-old prostitutes are kept in slavery, while scores are left in drug and alcohol abuse, while millions are left in poverty and hunger, and while the lost search for what only Christ can give, His people settle in, quite satisfied with the world in which they live. While they claim to be on fire and set-apart, they fail to see that the life they demonstrate holds little power and little victory.

So I ask you... are you set-apart? Or are you comfortably settled-in?


God, may we see ourselves as You see us. May we shun the world and grab hold of You and cling to You with every fiber of our being. May we rise up and be mighty men, mighty women - a mighty generation who give NO PLACE to the devil, NO PLACE to the world, NO PLACE to compromise and shallow thinking and lukewarm living. Your word says that we are more than conquerors, that we can do all things through You. So help us, dear God, to put off our flesh and put on the Spirit. May we fuel the fire that has been burning in Your heart since before time began. Give us boldness. Give us martyrs passion. Give us a hunger for prayer. Forgive us for thinking of ourselves. Forgive us for living for our own pleasure. Forgive us for justifying what Your Spirit is not a part of. May we come back to You and be named a set-apart generation.