For there is no partiality with God. – Romans 2:11 (NKJV)
We are all individuals and most of us embrace our own individuality. However, how many of us embrace the individuality of others?
The first problem with the embracing the individuality of others is the standards by which we judge them. Our judging is usually done on a subconscious level, and we don’t even know that we are doing it. The standards we use helps us to determine if other people are worthy of our time and attention.
People who don’t meet our standards are sometimes considered unconventional – they are out of the ordinary. When someone doesn’t conform to what we think they should do, say, or look like, how do we react? Do we ignore and spend time with others who do conform, or do we accept them as they are?
The main problem with determining whether someone is conventional or not is the standards we use to judge them. But where do these standards come from?
A lot of our standards today, come from the world, especially the media. The media says we have to look a certain way and do certain things to be accepted. There is no individuality if everybody is doing the same thing, following the latest trends, and conforming to what the world expects them to be.
There are some people who decide not to follow the world’s standards for one reason or for many reasons. These unconventional people may not do things we expect them to do. They do what feels comfortable for them. Their main priority is not to make the world happy but to be happy with themselves. If they don’t meet our own perceived worldly standards, then what does it matter? Why do we feel the need to turn away from them?
Judging others using the world’s standards is dangerous. We tend to get up with worldly thinking and we need to break it. Thankfully, we have an example of someone who didn’t follow what the world said.
When Jesus was on this earth, he said and did a lot of things that would have been considered unconventional at the time. He met with sinners and tax collectors; healed people on the Sabbath; and he spoke in parables that most people didn’t understand. Most people would have thought that Jesus was strange as he didn’t conform to the world’s standards. Everything he did or said was according to God’s standards.
As Christians, we should also be applying God’s standards to everything we do and say, including how we judge others. If they don’t meet the world’s standards on how they should act, dress, or even think, then what does it matter? What matters is that they measure up to God’s standards. God’s standards are far more important than the world’s.
The next time you come across someone who dresses differently or doesn’t act in the way you think they should ask yourself are you measuring them according to the world or God’s standards? In the end, we all be measured and judged by God’s standards. Now is the time to start learning to tell and know the difference and to embrace the unconventional.
Originally published August 2019