“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” (Romans 12:2) Satan is always attempting to do one of two things. Either he wants us to adopt the spirit of this age by acting like the world, with godless attitudes and immoral behavior. Or, he wants to invade the church with anti-Christian mindsets and doctrines. If he can’t entice us to be like the world, he sends the spirit of the world into our local fellowships.
The writings of the New Testament continually warn believers about adopting the world's attitudes instead of holding fast to our biblical heritage. We are called to be children of light and to make sure we are shining bright enough that our neighbors can see the difference that Jesus makes in our life. If we confuse these issues, we will be no good to God’s Kingdom.
A true story will illustrate this well. Years ago, my in-laws had ducks that stayed in the pond at their farm. A wild animal, more than likely a fox, killed the mother duck. Mrs. Lora, my mother-in-law, found an egg the mother duck had laid. She decided to put the egg in her chicken house to see if the hens would sit on it and perhaps hatch the baby duck.
Well, sure enough, the egg hatched. It was the funniest thing to see the duck walk around with the chickens. The poor misguided duck thought he was a chicken. When he got older, Lora took the duck away from the chicken coop and tossed it off the pier into the pond. She wanted him to move out into the expected life of a duck. As soon as the duck landed in the water, he paddled quickly to shore and ran back into the chicken coop. Though he was a duck, he was at home with the chickens. He thought he was one of them.
Lora finally gave up trying to convince him that he was a duck. And since he wanted to be a chicken, she named him ‘Chuck.’ Though he waddled like a duck and quacked like a duck, he walked around with the chickens. It was the craziest thing to see Chuck embrace the life of chickenhood and fail to be a duck. Until his dying day, Chuck the duck thought he was a chicken.
That is how strange we appear when we name the name of Christ but walk, talk, and act like the world. We confuse those around us by claiming one thing but acting like something else. Let us follow Christ with all our hearts and offer clarity to those looking for truth.
Let us not go down the path of spiritual compromise and become lukewarm. Let us not bring shame to the name of Christ. In short… Don’t Be Chuck!
