This afternoon yielded some free time for me so I decided to cut the grass. Maybe I’m weird, but I actually enjoy time spent listening to the hum of my mower and attempting to make obsessive-compulsive straight lines in the grass. About half way through the front yard something jumped up from the grass which caused me to instinctively kick up my right foot in case it was 1) a snake, 2) a mouse, 3) a massive flying object which may have the potential to sting, or 4) anything which I have not mentioned above but has the potential to take off my right foot. I didn’t shut off the mower immediately in case I had to use it as a weapon, but when I finally looked down to the ground my eye barely made out a rather large toad. Mentally I tried to recall if toads could be poisonous, but thinking through all the episodes of The Crocodile Hunter I honestly could not remember. Then the thought hit me…that thing would have made a huge mess if I had run over it. Then I started asking the deeper questions - where did that toad come from? It literally came out of nowhere. Like I said before, when I am mowing I really keep an eye on what is in front of me to make sure my lines are straight. The problem was that the toad blended in perfectly with its surroundings. In the wild, this is a good thing for a toad since they can disguise themselves from would-be predators; however, a toad is no match for my whirling blade!

So, when does blending in with your surroundings become dangerous? For the follower of Christ, blending in means that you do your best not to be noticed. Furthermore, blending in is a pursuit to adapt the values of the culture so as not to be labeled weird or different. It is dangerous when the church winks at sin and abuses the very grace given by God through His Son, Jesus Christ. Paul writes to the church at Ephesus about the need to be different…the pursuit of new behavior in their daily lives. Ephesians 4 reveals his powerful words. Instead of lying, tell the truth (4:25). Be angry at the right things, but never let it continue until the next day (4:26). Don’t take something which is not yours, but work hard to earn the money to pay for it (4:28). Use your words to build people up instead of using them to destroy (4:29). Learn to obey God’s truth so you do not disappoint Him (4:30). “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour [fighting], and evil speaking, be put away from you” (4:31). “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you” (4:32). Being a follower of Christ costs us something…our identity. We no longer attempt to blend in with the value system of the world, but our attitudes and actions cause us to be identified with Jesus. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).