Things That MatterSample

COGNITIVE DISSIDENCE

I have certain slogans I use over and over again, because there’s always someone who needs to hear them. One of the most popular is this: “You don’t have to live like everyone else. In fact, you’ll probably be happier if you don’t.” Those who follow Christ understand this best.

We live in a culture that begs us to conform. Through its various messages, it calls us to squeeze into its mold. It exerts pressure on our minds to believe in and buy its opinions, hopes, and aspirations, even though the pursuits that define most of our culture never fully satisfy our hearts and souls. We’re not supposed to think differently about anything.

But, through conformity to culture, we lose our uniqueness. We lose our passion. We lose our energy. We lose our opportunity to choose a different future and be conformed to the image of Christ. And because we are too busy chasing the wrong things, we sacrifice our opportunities to find something greater and more fulfilling in this life.

Meanwhile, at least for many of us, our hearts beg us to live differently. Our spirits call us to seek our own passions. Our souls cry out for meaning. Our insides long for us to live countercul­tural lives.

The apostle Paul gives us the way to channel this impulse to separate from the herd. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world,” he says, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). Our minds can be renewed (transformed until we think about things as God does, not as the world does), as we yield to the Spirit’s work in our lives.

So go on—be countercultural, be contrarian, be nonconformist. Turn off the noise of this world. You don’t have to shove your distinctiveness in other people’s faces, but neither do you need to hide it. Embrace it.

The apostle John wrote, “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). In what ways do you need to say no to the passions and attractions of this world, in order to take a path that leads to eternity?