Have you ever been in a situation where you had a miserable feeling that you didn’t belong? Maybe it was at a party and you didn’t know anyone, or you were pulled into a conversation that you knew you didn’t belong in. It’s fascinating how some people can just jump into any situation and be a total chameleon. They can blend in and not only make the best of awkward situations, but actually enjoy them.
The world is full of Christians who have become expert chameleons. The pressures of the world are strong, but we are called to be different. In 2 Timothy 3:14, Paul speaks of his way of life, his purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings (vv.10-11). He warns that, “anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in a lot of trouble; there’s no getting around it” (v.12). We are not to be surprised by opposition. We are to take a rock-like stand on the “holy Scriptures” (v.15).
Because we’ve become so proficient at being chameleons, very few of us can relate to Paul’s life.
‘There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God’ (vv.1–4, MSG).
Paul describes them as ‘having a form of godliness while denying its power’ (v.5). It describes both a secular world and a kind of nominalism that has a form of godliness. They are chameleons. If you asked them their religion, they would say they are Christian.
You are called to be different…very different.
The question is, are you?
Living Life by Design 
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