Stand Out Of the Crowd
- Category: Gospel Truth
- Date 25-05-2014
- 318 views
Our world is full of corruption, violence, deceit, malice, adultery and all manner of mischief. You can easily tell yourself that it is impossible, if necessary, to be different. It is sometimes said that ‘no one is perfect’. This almost implies that it is desirable to do ‘a little wrong’ sometimes.
Wrongdoing may appear to be socially acceptable in many ways. A young girl might be tempted to lose her virginity if she learns that her peers have lost theirs. A public servant might be forced to steal office funds because all the colleagues in the department are doing the same. A man might assault his wife in order to be like ‘other men’ in the community. A business man might sell fake products to cheat customers and earn excessive profits like all others.
Wicked conduct may appear as fashionable in giving quick advantage but this is always wrong and pointless. You can stand out of the crowd by upholding what everyone else has failed at. Scripture provides instructive case studies. Noah lived in a society so perverted that the Lord regretted having created man (Genesis 6:6-7).
While everyone else committed evil, Noah did not. He was very aware of the popular behaviour of his contemporaries but he exercised restraint and remained blameless. It would have been very easy for him to say, ‘there is no one doing good so it will not hurt if I also do a little mischief’.
Noah did not lose his integrity in an effort to appear like others. He chose right living while the rest of the world had elected wickedness. He simply stood out. He alone remained righteous in a warped society. Other people may have viewed him as a ‘social-misfit’. When the punitive flood wiped out everyone, however, Noah alone survived with his family.
The Lord said to Noah “Go into the ark; you and your household, for you… alone have I found righteous before me” (Genesis 6-7).
The Bible also offers a story of Job; a man who would not renounce his devotion to God at any cost. The people in his society sinned with reckless abandon in spite of the blessings God gave them. Yet, Job remained “a blameless and upright man who loved God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1).
Satan imagined that Job was cushioned from sin by the abundant wealth he had. He visited on him the volume of suffering that no other person could bear. All his ten children died along with his servants; all his animals perished and he became totally impoverished. He even got hurting sores all-over his body.
In his agony, Job got a lot of pressure from his companions, urging him to denounce God and submit to Satan’s temptations. Even his wife asked him to curse God. Each person knew that they would take any shortcut available, even if it was offered by the devil, as long as it would give them some relief. In his situation, however, Job only reacted by blessing God and praying for his friends who were exerting excessive pressure on him to capitulate. In the end, God rewarded him.
“Yahweh restored his fortunes, giving him twice as much as he had before…. Yahweh blessed Job’s latter days with more than his earlier ones (Job 42:10-12).
Daniel is another Biblical character who defied odds. When he and his colleagues lived in captivity, they were given the chance to dine and wine from the table of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Daniel led his fellow youth to reject the offer so that they would not be soiled by unclean diet (Daniel 1:8). Therefore, Daniel could not be compromised with cheap patronage. Whereas greed hardly brings lasting fulfilment, most people would easily sell their hearts for momentary relief.
A later king, Darius appointed Daniel a provincial governor (satrap) whereupon he performed superbly and outshone all other administrators and satraps. The king planned to give him authority over the entire kingdom because he was so trustworthy that neither corruption nor negligence could be found in him. Ordinarily, Daniel’s peers became envious and plotted against him. They persuaded the king to kill him for his commitment to God.
As a result, Daniel was thrown into a den of lions which, they hoped, would devour him to death. God sent his angel who closed the mouths of the lions and disabled them from harming him. Not even a single injury was inflicted on him because “he had trusted in God” (Daniel 6:3-23). The feeling of insecurity we get for challenging negative social tendencies is really uncalled-for. It takes unusual courage to do what all other people are afraid of but this is the secret of success.
Goliath was a giant among the Philistines and he alone gave their army a matchless reputation. He was feared more than his entire troops; he had possibly led them to several military victories. When he issued a challenge, King Saul and all the soldiers “were afraid and greatly terrified” (1 Samuel 17:11). As an individual, therefore, you can inspire an entire community to face their challenges with confidence; but success is not guaranteed without God.
“Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain (Psalms 127:1).
While the Israeli forces cowered, a young boy, David, was not overcome by collective fear. He stepped out to face the battle-hardened Goliath and felled him with a sling and a stone, and the rest of the Philistine military took to their heels (1 Samuel 17:50-51). Success remains elusive to people who fail to discover their personal strengths and tend to judge their chances by the attitude and behaviour of other members of their society.
This is why Zaccheus would not miss the opportunity to see Jesus. Due to the crowds that surged around Jesus, Zaccheus could only realise his dream by doing what all the others did not think about. To stand out of the crowd, he ran ahead of others and climbed a sycamore tree. This was a creative approach and, as a result, he alone in Jericho got the chance to host Jesus at his home (Luke 19:4-7).
No condition should stop a person from registering success. Even if all the people in your society are failures, you should not have an excuse for failing too. You owe it to yourself to make innovative choices and decisions. When you are determined about your mission, you can always lift yourself up from the dust of communal desolation.
Venansio Ahabwe is a lay Christian in the Archdiocese of Mbarara.
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Gospel Truth, Leadership Magazine