separated hearts.

Romans 12:1–2 (KJV 1900): I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

These verses have been a foundation to my entire life. I memorized this particular passage back when I was in Junior Bible Quizzing. I learned a little made-up jingle and the tune for Romans 12:1 & 2 to help me memorize it and now the tune replays over in my mind any time I hear words like sacrifice, holiness, transformation, and presentation. I have always heard preached, taught, sung, declared, screamed, and even cried that we are “to be separate from the world.” These verses are generally followed up with quotes from 1 John 2:15 (KJV 1900): 15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” as well as 2 Corinthians 6:17–18 (KJV 1900): 17 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” Lastly, I will also add in 1 Peter 1:14–15 (KJV 1900): 14 “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;”

I will not argue that God requests that those that believe in Him and want to be known as Christians are commanded to be separate from the world and live a life denying fleshly desires. God does command this from us. What I am choosing to question is HOW God wants us to separate ourselves from the world.

Lets start in the Bible at that first verse, the one that repeats itself over and over in my Pentecostal mind.... (Romans 12:1-2) This time we aren’t going to stop at the second verse in the chapter, we are going to continue to read. You can read along on your own; my goal is to list all the ways we are told to transformed and not conformed.

Vs 3, Humility- Think of others, not Ourselves & Soberness Vs 4 –5 To uphold and Celebrate unity and diversity Vs 6-8Use the Spiritual Gifts we have been Given happily and to the best of our Abilities Vs 9 Genuine love, Hatred of Evil, Clinging to goodness Vs 10 Kind affection, Brotherly love, showing honor/respect to each other Vs 11 Hard working in business, not lazy & Serving the Lord with a fervent spirit Vs 12 Rejoice and be hopeful, Patience in tribulation, continual prayer Vs 13 Giving towards the needs of Christians and showing Hospitality Vs 14 Blessing persecutors Vs 15 Having Compassion and supporting others 16 Unity among believers 17 Forgiveness, no revenge and Honest Integrity(vs 17) 18 Living in peace with everyone

19 Not seeking revenge 20 Feeding/giving to the needs of enemies and forgiveness 21 Overcoming evil with good

These are the ways that God instructs us to represent Him and identify as a Christian. If you’ll study these verses and the instructions, they give carefully you will notice they say nothing about dressing or looking a certain way. This passage of scripture, however, does paint a very clear picture of a lifestyle that is very different than a fleshly, “worldly” one. Perhaps you could call it an “unconformed” lifestyle, or even a transformed one? Hmmm... makes you wonder.

In searching the Bible for an example of God commanding us to appear physically separated from the world I found a great example. Circumcision was required of all of Abraham’s descendants as a sign of the covenant the God made with His chosen people (Genesis 17:9–14; Acts 7:8) ,the Mosaic Law repeated the requirement (Leviticus 12:2–3)(Joshua 5:2–3; Luke 1:59; Acts 16:3; Philippians 3:5). New Testament Christians however are no longer under this Old Testament Law because Jesus fulfilled the law when He sacrificed Himself on the cross. This is brought out in a number of New Testament verses, Acts 15; Galatians 2:1–3; 5:1–11; 6:11–16; 1 Corinthians 7:17–20; Colossians 2:8–12; and Philippians 3:1–3. Christ’s gift of salvation trumps any physical and ceremonial laws that we once had to follow when we were under the Old Testament law. We now have our hearts circumcised by Christ instead of our body parts. (Deuteronomy 10:16; cf. Romans 2:29). Because of salvation, (made possible and offered freely by Jesus) the works of the flesh, dress codes, even physical alterations of our bodies, accomplish nothing ( Galatians 2:16).

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” - John 13:35. The way we present ourselves differently is nothing physically present. God commands that our difference be shown in our action, specifically we are commanded to love one another and allow that love to be so great that it drives every choice that we make.

Matthew 25:31–36 (KJV 1900): 31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Yes, we are called to be separated from the world, but our separation is never commanded to come in a physical appearance. (You can tell me 1 Timothy 2:9 , yes we are taught to be modest and restrained, but not be different or to stand out because we don’t wear clothing appropriate for the activity). I have a response coming for the “modesty verses”.

Our separation is supposed to be in our attitude and character. God clearly commands us over and over again, in several different scriptures that our virtues, attitudes, love, and the fruits of the spirit that we will bear will make us like Him as well as show the world it is Him working within us.

I pray that I have made a strong Biblical argument to show that our separation from the world is not supposed to come by physical standards or dress codes. The final argument I will address along those lines is this one. “The world sees us and judges us by how we look. Our appearance is our witness to strangers we meet and never meet. Our appearance is a way we can show the world Jesus and that we are different without even opening our mouths.” This reason has been taught/preached at me my entire life.

Yes, I will agree that when you follow a “holiness dress code” you are showing the world your beliefs without opening you mouth. But what beliefs are your clothes saying? What is your dress truly expressing? Is your midi denim skirt, cardigan, layers of shirts, fancy hairstyle, and sky-high heels with your oversized, patterned bag screaming that you “love Jesus and have dedicated your life to Him?”

Is your strict dress code representative of Christ or of a body of people/ denomination of faith.

If your choice in dress is a personal choice or conviction, a decision you made yourself without any requirement or input from the convictions of others than you are dressing and representing correctly.

If, however, your dress choices are made because of requirements or personal beliefs held by someone else than you are not representing Christ, His sacrifice, or the freedoms He granted us when He paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross.

Who are you representing? Why are you representing them?

Your face could be covered in makeup, but if it smiles at a stranger and extend a helping hand to them it will show God's love so much more than a head-to-toe covered, natural faced person who is judging someone else’s appearance. Our appearances will only be judged secondly to our attitudes and actions.

The truth in fact is that the world does make assumptions of you based off your looks and the way you choose to present yourselves. But another truth is that the church too is judging others instantly based on how they look. Church members and traditional people of “the world” are taught to judge others based off of appearance the exact same way....

The most important thing I would like to leave you with is this,

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 ESV.

Each one of us will have to stand before Christ one day and answer for ourselves for the choices that we have made. The bible tells us that God looks at our hearts and can see the truth of how we feel regardless of how we appear, dress, or behave. Every decision that we make needs to be made from the heart, from a heart devoted to and surrendered to Christ. If we choose to dress in a certain style from a heart that is truly, deeply devoted to Christ then we are making the right choice for ourselves. If we choose to dress however we wish to spite others, prove a point, or even out of anger and bitterness (feelings I am struggling heavily with currently)... Then our choices are wrong because our heart is wrong.

Everything we choose to do, say, wear, or be starts within us-with our heart. God promises to give us new, circumcised hearts (remember that conversation?) when we choose to believe and surrender to Him. It is up to us, individually, to keep our hearts surrendered to Him and choose daily to things with the right intentions and reasonings behind them. God sees and will judge us by our hearts and the intentions we have buried inside, if we are choosing to do the right things for the wrong reasons, or wrong things for the wrong reasons, He will know.

The condition of your heart is reflected in your attitude, and that reflection will be evident to Christ and to others. Friends, it all starts in your heart. If your actions are only because of a bitter, angry heart (or a haughty, proud heart) then it is time to re-assess and change.

A heart that is focused on yourself or others is not separated unto Christ, you are not living separated (as we are Biblically commanded to do) if you are proud, arrogant, bitter, angry, or vengeful.