Being Different

I think that most people who have any drive at all desire to be different. Growing up with an uncommon name I wanted to have a different name. One that would resemble "cool". However, I remember a time when I was at a low point in my childhood and I started thinking about my name. It was different and that was OK. I am who I am and I was named this name for a reason. I don't know if that was a turning point or not, but, like many, I had a drive to be different.

Merriam-Webster defines different in this way...

1 : partly or totally unlike in nature, form, or quality : dissimilar
2 : not the same: as a : distinct b : various c : another
3 : unusual, special

Individuals in life are different by their gender, the way they dress, their choice in music, their choice in hair styles, their favorite color, their hobbies, etc. Sometimes when we see someone who is so different than us we label them as being "different".

In a consumer world being different is the name of the game. You either have a different product, a different price or difference in service. As a church we are in the middle of consumerism and must adjust the rudder and sails to survive. We may not be a "business" and we aren't a consumer. However, we must lean more toward the business side to survive, as we need people to support us so we can stay afloat, just as a business does.

One of the definitions above stood out to me - 2(c). It basically says that part of different is "another". When we are just "another" church in the community, that is not the right kind of different that will help us be more attractive. When a business opens up, if it is just "another" burger place or another grocery store, then it is bound to fail. Something must be done to move it from "another" to "dissimilar" or "distinct".

We must understand, as we look to attract, what makes us unique. Is it a product, a price, or a service which is provided? Once we can identify which of the three areas we are going to target, then we can seek to be different. If our focus is to meet each week for a few hours in a building then we will always be just "another" church. If we drift from week to week not thinking about being different outside the walls of the church building, then we will always be just "another" church.

However, if we can have the mindset to be different by thinking about our mission each day, in the middle of our jobs, our games, our drives, our interactions, etc. Then, we will start to take on one aspect of being a bit different.

Too often we have paralleled "different" in the religious world to being "cooky", "snobbish", "stuck-up", "crazy", "holier than thou", "preachy", "goodie-goodie", "radical", or a host of other labels. Really, you make the label. You can be different without being any of those things. We, as a church, can be different without any of those things. I am driven to be different, as a preacher, by trying to avoid any of those things, and, as relationships go, it has worked very well.

Let's not drift. Let's look for ways to be "different" as a church, every day.