Just as Daniel lived faithfully as an exile in Babylon, we are called to live faithfully as exiles wherever we are. We are called to be different!

February 23-24, 2019

The Big Idea: Just as Daniel lived faithfully as an exile in Babylon, we are called to live faithfully as exiles wherever we are. We are called to be different!

Introduction:

ILL: My first two years in high school, the most openly Christian teacher in our school was Miss Helen Stanbrough. She was an elderly spinster who was the faculty advisor for the Bible Club. And she was…different. Different not in a winsome way, but in a weird way. She dressed differently and talked differently and was… different, separate from everyone else. No one could accuse her of being assimilated into the culture—she was different. Nor could they accuse her of impacting the culture—she was completely out of touch, separate. I remember thinking that I didn’t want to be like that.

Contrast Miss Stanbrough with millions of Christians who are virtually indistinct from the culture—no difference at all, other than they claim to be Christian and show up at church occasionally. They have been assimilated, conformed to the culture, squeezed into the culture’s mold. Same, same. I didn’t want to be like that either.

So is there a third way? Yes. Rather than isolation from culture, or assimilation by culture, we can redemptively impact culture.

For the next few weeks, we want to thi