“Vuja De?”

By

Paul Parsons

Have you ever walked into a new place or visited a new town and felt that you had been there before?  Even though you know that this is your first time in a new place, there is this nagging feeling of familiarity.  The feeling is called déjà vu.  Much has been written and spoken about this common experience, from the scientific study of a Mr. Funkhouser to the mystic musings of New Age writers and philosophers.

For the Christian, there is a much less common malady which deserves far more attention…the feeling that we are always in the wrong place, that we are a square peg in a round hole.  Paul talked about it…Peter talked about it…and even David said that we are strangers, sojourners, in this world, looking for the world to come.  Maybe we should call it “vuja de.”

The sense of those portions of scripture is one of not belonging – and it can be downright uncomfortable.  The Apostle Paul says in Romans 12:2, “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.”

It seems to me that Paul is saying that born-again believers have a choice to make: to fit in with the way the world thinks and acts, thereby enjoying the acceptance of worldly men, or to be a stranger in the world, always feeling out of place, but enjoying the acceptance of God.

Christians in the workplace are often surrounded by profanity, blasphemy, and deceitful business practices.  The temptation is to “go along to get along.”  We are tempted to laugh at their perverted jokes and overlook their perverted lifestyles because we don’t want to be shunned as foreigners often are in an alien land.  We are afraid of being accused of being a judgmental Bible-thumper. 

Often, we don’t even make others aware of our beliefs for fear of being looked upon as a hypocrite.  Then, we justify our actions or inactions by acknowledging to ourselves that God understands that we still have to live in the world, so He will forgive these minor transgressions.

But, a truly born-again spirit-filled believer, no matter how much he tries to conform, will never quite fit in.  He will remain a square peg trying to squeeze himself into that round hole, and then trying to squeeze back out on Sunday morning.   An attempted conformer will always be at war within himself, because he finds it difficult to fit into either world.  Why?  Because God is at work transforming him.

When you watch television news and people refer to a same sex couple as if it were a normal “family”, does your spirit recoil at the concept?  When people gather at the workplace at break time, and God’s name is taken in vain, do you want to shout, “that is my Lord you are talking about?”  When others refer to abortion as an appropriate means of birth control, are you filled with righteous indignation?

If so, congratulations!  You are a foreigner, an alien in a strange land.  Welcome to my world.

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