I’ve been using a variety of personal computers since they first came on the market—ones running DOS, Windows, Apple DOS, MacOS, ChromeOS, NEXTSTEP, Amiga OS, and even Atari TOS. Over the years they have been my core tools for creating and designing. Apple brand computers have a strong following among content creators, but their market share still trails PCs running Windows. Several years ago when Steve Jobs headed Apple they created a media campaign with the slogan, “Think different” to persuade computer users to adopt the Mac platform. The campaign featured iconic images of famous individuals like Albert Einstein, Maria Callas, Pablo Picasso, Nelson Mandela, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, and Cesar Chavez who made an impact on people by pioneering a novel approach in their respective fields.
Is your life different enough that it benefits other people? It can be. History and the Bible are full of ordinary people who have made a difference. Even today you’ll find examples in people around you. They stand apart because their character and their actions positively impact others. Jesus is the ultimate example of living differently in order to benefit others. As you follow him you can be the same way. In fact, he is calling you to be different and separate—to be in the world, but not of the world in order to save people out of their world of darkness, sin, and death.
Wayward Assimilation
God called the nation of Israel to be separate. They were to shine as a beacon in a dark world so all nations and peoples would know what it means to have God, the creator of the universe, as their loving Father, wise king, and bountiful provider. This is a role that would ultimately be fulfilled by single representative, Jesus the Messiah (Genesis 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 4:1-8; Isaiah 49, Galatians 3:1-22). But within a few generations Israel defied God’s design for them. They disobeyed him (Deuteronomy 7:3-4). The men married women from pagan nations and soon families and communities worshipped the false gods of these wives. To their shame and the downfall of their nation they did this repeatedly—during the time of the judges, the kings, the divided kingdom, and after Babylonian exile.
Likewise this happens today, people put a number of things before God. They idolize work, wealth, success, sports, self-righteousness, self-indulgence, fame, or even family. Ultimately this will not fulfill them or bring about the life they long for. Ironically it separates them from God and drives them closer to hopelessness and death. Instead they need to separate themselves from a self-centered life and false gods so they can draw close to the one true God and the eternal life that only he provides. This can’t be done on their own. It can’t be done on your own. You can’t save yourself. But where you are helpless to save, Jesus is all sufficient (Hebrews 10:1-14). He is God the Son who became a man to do what no one else can—to save the world. Anyone who trusts in him can know God and experience his abundant life now and forever (John 3:16-21). Thus, it’s not through your striving that you separate from your self-centered rebellion against God or this world’s vain and lifeless system. No, it is only possible by trusting Jesus to do so in you. Jesus came to separate you from your sin (Romans 6:6-7; Hebrews 10:16-17). Take advantage of that. Jesus is the only way, truth, and life. No one can come to God except through him (John 14:6). Start by confessing any wrongdoing and turning from it. Receive his forgiveness which he promises to give (1 John 1:9). When you trust Jesus to save you, you become a new creation no longer bound by the rule of sin—a slave to sin (John 8:31-36; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21). You have been set free. You have a new outlook, purpose, and power. Learn what Jesus did and said by reading about him in the Bible. The book of John is a great place to start. Ask him how to live rightly and then follow through with what he tells you.
How to Live Separately
What does being separate look like. Well, first I’ll tell you what it doesn’t look like. It’s not being physically separate like the Jewish Essenes or monks of various religions. We are to live in the world among people loving them, proclaiming the truth, and showing them how to know God and obey him. Also it’s not being culturally separate to the point that you can’t relate to and deeply connect with people. Jesus did not separate himself culturally. He crossed cultural barriers in order to lovingly serve people and call them to repentance. The apostle Paul adopted Jesus’ approach. He wrote, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Jesus is Immanuel which means God with us. He separated himself from heaven to become a man and live among us in order to point people to God and enable them to know God and become a part his royal family now and forever (Philippians 2:5-11; 1 John 5:20). In contrast to living separately physically or culturally living separately involves having a different heart. It is living for God and others instead of for yourself or this world. Based on Jesus’ example, living separately is being set apart in character, purpose, and actions motivated by sacrificial love, guided by divine wisdom and truth, and shaped by an eternal perspective. It’s living missionally and intentionally with your relationships, time, talents, treasures, and tasks so you can become like Jesus and so others can find and follow Jesus also.
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry on earth he described what living separately is like. He explained what it is like to be a member of God’s family, a citizen in God’s kingdom, which is very different than living in our present fallen world of broken people who have strayed from God’s design for them and therefore are needlessly suffering from the consequences of living for themselves instead of for God.
Living separately means humbling yourself before God, instead of exalting yourself among people. Denying yourself instead of fulfilling yourself. It means not worrying, but trusting God to provide. It means seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness first. It means putting others before yourself, even suffering if it will help them. It means not fighting your own battles, but letting God fight for you and deliver you. It means making peace instead of stirring dissension. Loving your enemies and praying for them. It means not being overwhelmed by evil, but overcoming evil with good. Not harboring bitterness or plotting revenge, but extending mercy and forgiving. It means storing up treasure in heaven instead of on earth. Valuing, focusing on, and working toward what matters eternally, and not getting caught up in what is temporary and insignificant. It means living as salt to preserve and promote what is good, right, and loving in a fallen world bent on evil, corruption, and hatred. Acting with integrity and not hypocrisy. Living as light for people who are lost and stumbling in darkness. It means finding your greatest pleasure in pleasing God. The apostle John wrote, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17).
Soon Jesus Will Separate Permanently
Jesus is coming back and will separate believers and unbelievers, righteousness and wickedness (Matthew 24:30-31; Revelation 19:11-21:8). Jesus explained this in a few parables like the parable of the net. “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:47-50). Therefore, those who don’t separate themselves by faith in Jesus will one day be separated by God’s judgment. Unbelievers will be eternally cut off from him and all that is good, right, and loving, as well as, the perpetual torment that comes with that. In contrast, believers will join Jesus in a new heaven and earth joyfully reigning with him in a righteous realm where there is no evil, sadness, or death (Revelation 21:1-8).
Conclusion
Believers, the church, are Jesus’ body—his representatives here on earth through his Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Matthew 28:18-20). They are referred to as eklesia in Greek which means the called out ones. Jesus is calling you out from the world, from your old way of life to a much better, abundant life with him. The apostle Peter wrote, “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15-16). To be holy is to be set apart for God in all that you are and do. You won’t be able to do that perfectly all the time, but it should be your sincere intent to do so. Desire to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and then love others as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). That’s what God is calling you to. He wants you to be with him, to be like him, and to do what he does. In living separately, you aren’t getting away from people. No, actually you are distancing yourself from self-centeredness by moving toward God in faith in order to draw close to people and help them draw close to God. By God’s grace and power when you live separately, differently in your character, purpose, and actions others will come to find and follow Jesus also which is the greatest gift you can give them.