Suggested Reading: 1 John 3:1-6
For me, fascinated as I am with linguistics and cultures, one of the most interesting things about James Cameron's movie Avatar was watching Sully slowly learn the alien language and culture. During his first encounter with the alien inhabitants of the planet Pandora, an alien female saves his life from some local predators. Sully thanks her and she angrily tells him in English, "Never thank me for this," as she points to the bodies of the animals she had killed in his defense. A gesture of gratitude from him was seen by this alien creature as something offensive. She did not appreciate his gesture of gratitude and he did not expect disgust that she had to kill in order to defend him. They experienced a disconnect because they were from two different worlds and saw things very differently.
As we grow in our relationships with our Heavenly Father, there should be times when we experience a similar disconnect with the world around us. There should be times when the world simply doesn't understand us because we see the world around us in a different light. 1 John 3:1 reads, "Look at what kind of love the Father has given to us so that we might be called children of God, and we are. Because of this the world does not understand us because it did not know Him" (SPT).
If we are God's children, we should see the world differently, we should hold different values, we should think differently than the people around us. And if we do then we will occasionally be misunderstood. There will be times when we simply don't make sense to the people around us because they don't know God.
When you look at your life as a believer, can you recall instances when your relationship with God was directly or indirectly responsible for people misunderstanding you? If so, that is to be expected for a child of God. If not, you may need to practice living out your Father's values.
For me, fascinated as I am with linguistics and cultures, one of the most interesting things about James Cameron's movie Avatar was watching Sully slowly learn the alien language and culture. During his first encounter with the alien inhabitants of the planet Pandora, an alien female saves his life from some local predators. Sully thanks her and she angrily tells him in English, "Never thank me for this," as she points to the bodies of the animals she had killed in his defense. A gesture of gratitude from him was seen by this alien creature as something offensive. She did not appreciate his gesture of gratitude and he did not expect disgust that she had to kill in order to defend him. They experienced a disconnect because they were from two different worlds and saw things very differently.
As we grow in our relationships with our Heavenly Father, there should be times when we experience a similar disconnect with the world around us. There should be times when the world simply doesn't understand us because we see the world around us in a different light. 1 John 3:1 reads, "Look at what kind of love the Father has given to us so that we might be called children of God, and we are. Because of this the world does not understand us because it did not know Him" (SPT).
If we are God's children, we should see the world differently, we should hold different values, we should think differently than the people around us. And if we do then we will occasionally be misunderstood. There will be times when we simply don't make sense to the people around us because they don't know God.
When you look at your life as a believer, can you recall instances when your relationship with God was directly or indirectly responsible for people misunderstanding you? If so, that is to be expected for a child of God. If not, you may need to practice living out your Father's values.
