Garth Heckman

The David Alliance

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Rebellion is a false sense of power… yes, but it might surprise you that conformity is also a false sense of power and in fact they are really the same thing. One person rebels to show they are in control and they don’t care the consequences… the other person conforms to show they are on control and don’t care about the consequences… Both find themselves in the same trap… but it is all brought on by outside forces… people, systems, problems, hurts, injustices,

Wether your conform or rebel you are actually being manipulated by an outside force…

Ever get hurt by someone and pray that they see their stupidity, their arrogance and their sin? They are tricking you into thinking its about you… they manipulated you into trying to be the “This is not fair” police.

The person who just quietly conforms does the same thing. They pray to God asking him to see how well they are being like everyone else… They still are praying from the perspective of “This is not fair” I am doing what everyone is telling me to do, but not getting what I want.

OR Worse yet… ready for this? You rebel or you conform and you get exactly what you want… but you are still empty inside. NOW WHAT? Now who do you blame?

The fact is simply this: we as followers of Christ can fall into either of these traps when we do not realize that our identity is not in who people say we are. It is not in what happens to us. It is not in how we judge or value our lives. It is not based on our family history or upbringing. Our identity is in Christ. Oh how silly and quaint to say this… but its true. When we rebel or conform we do it long enough where we seek provocation and support to justify our expression of these behaviors. Am I getting to deep… sorry. But here is another mad scientist twist… when lived out long enough it rewires our brain to “normally” live out our lives that way. We can no longer see it as unhealthy because we see it as normal… you can tweet that- its worthy.

And scripture flys smack into this and tears this idea and mindset down.

• 2 Corinthians 5:17:
  This verse states, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" This verse signifies a complete change in identity for believers. It's not just about adding something new, but about becoming a completely new creation in Christ, signifying a break from the old way of life and a new beginning.
• Galatians 2:20:
  This verse says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." This verse points to a life lived in union with Christ, where the old self is crucified, and the believer now lives through Christ's spirit.
• Ephesians 2:10:
  This verse states, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." This verse emphasizes that believers are created by God for a specific purpose. It highlights that believers have a unique identity and purpose found in Christ and the good works that God has prepared for them.
  When we rebel or conform we are using other measuring sticks to justify our behavior, our sin, our life, our reputation, our actions…
• But when we use scripture… when we lay our life over the example of Christ life… things fall tragically short. We see quickly that our life must be formed by our walk with Christ and not through rebellion or conformity.
• We do not conform to this world.. rather we are transformed…
• Maybe the best realignment for today is simply a prayer where we cry out to God and ask him to destroy our rebellion and our conformity and make us more like him through the transformation of his word.