There was a recent commercial that caught my attention. It involved a man dressed in a beige suit looking for beige socks. The beige man encountered a man with a colorful sock and an affinity for cowbell. He told the beige man this, “There are two types of people in this world. Those people who are content to blend in. These people walk through life like beige socks, uninspired and bored. Then, there are those who expect more. They are exciting; they have pizzazz.”
This made me think about the “beige” Christians out there. You know the ones I’m talking about. Those that are just there. They go through the motions, but there is no life in them. They are the ones that sing “I’m Happy Today” with neither a smile nor a frown. They know just enough to be intellectually plugged into Christ. Yet, they think very little about how their lives are woven into the large tapestry of God’s redemptive plan for mankind. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” in John 19:30, the plan was complete, but the story did not end. We have a part in that eternal story!
The lives of those in the early church that we see recorded in Acts and the epistles of the apostles are anything but beige. With the early persecution coming from the Jews and then the Romans, there was little time for boredom. Paul records some of his challenges in 2 Corinthians 11:21-28, some of which are not recorded anywhere else but in this passage. His life was not boring. As followers of Christ, our lives will stand out in contrast to the social norms and accepted morality of the day. Jesus calls us light in the Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).
We are not called to be beige and conform to what the ominous “they” are doing. We are non-conformists to this world. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). Also, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior” (1 Pet. 1:13-15). Both of these passages highlight the nature of the life we have chosen and are called to live. We are transformed by God, conformed to His will and sanctified for His holy work. That is an exciting life! That is a life that can expect more than any earthly wealth could ever promise.