What about the change? What about the difference?

Had an interesting conversation with some students of mine today.

The bell-ringer in one of my classes was asking my students to describe a memory from their childhood. As I was helping one of my students, another one of my students asked the following out loud.

Student 1: Mr. Kim, how do you spell whiskey?

Me: uhm... w-h-i-s-k-e-y

Student 2(who I was helping): Man... you never drank whiskey before!

Student 1: Heck yeah, I sure did! When I was young, I drank whiskey and beer.

Student 2: You did not...

Student 1: Yeah! I did but I stopped when I became a Christian.

Later on, student 1 showed me his journal entry... and it turns out to be a list of ways he had upset his parents, vices, and horrible behaviors. Then he shared that he had done all of them before he became a Christian, and then once becoming a Christian, had stopped. 

Though I just sat and laughed for awhile over this, it also occurred to me how much gospel truth this student had just brought forth. 

2 Corinthians 5:16-18 says, "From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation."

Romans 12:2 says,"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

As Christians, we are to change and be transformed. Christ died that we might be made anew. The gospels and the New Testament epistles speak consistently of this new radical way of living. Yet, so many of us as followers of Christ live such lukewarm lives. True, we all fall short of God's standards. But our lives also should reflect an appropriate response to the radical love that God shows us. As we delve deeper and deeper into the gospel, our lives, my life, need to show a radical change in our worldview and how we live our lives.

We need to continue to challenge ourselves in the outwardly way we witness to others, our thought lives, and in our spiritual disciplines. 

I'm reminded of the old SCC song. haha somewhat corny I suppose, but hits it right on the spot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqBROlAiqlE

What abut the Change? What about the Difference?

Till next time,

Soli Deo Gloria

Sam Kim