Exceptional

Living a godly life in the military can be tough for anyone. There is an overwhelming pressure to conform and fall in line. Those who resist this culture of conformity risk being ridiculed, harassed, and even threatened. This pressure is especially strong for the single Soldier, Airman, Sailor, or Marine.

While I was serving in the Air Force during the Gulf War, I was the one bringing the pressure to bear on a fellow Airman. He was outspoken about his faith in Christ and didn’t party, cuss, or laugh at any number of my extremely inappropriate jokes. Instead he would invite me to church, tell me about Jesus, and try to be my friend. Man, I hated this guy.

I would make fun of him, his wife, his church, and his God. I would be part of groups that would harass and ridicule him for his faith and his unwillingness to do anything that the rest of us were doing. He never gave in, never quit, and never, ever compromised.

Being a strong Christian in a culture of conformity is tough, real tough; but it can be done. While everyone else is out getting drunk, shacking up with their girlfriend or boyfriend, and participating in other self destructive behavior, you might feel like you are missing out. You might be sick of being on the outside and you just want to be one of the team. Compromise is not the answer.

Jesus faced similar circumstances in His life. He was betrayed by his own people and one of his best friends turned him in for a crime he didn’t even commit. Jesus was a true non-conformist in a culture of conformity. While everyone else was going along with the program, Jesus stood for what was right, not what was popular.

Being a non-conformist in the Christian sense does not mean that we are different just to be different. It means that we are different because we are following Jesus, and Jesus is different. He is more than different; He is exceptional and we are to live exceptional lives for Him.

Chances are you won’t be single forever; but right now you have some awesome potential for the Kingdom of God. You have more personal time, more expendable income, and probably more energy than you will ever have again. You could use all those resources in the same way that everyone else is, or you can put those resources in God’s hands and allow Him to use you like never before.

For three years I harassed that guy in my shop for being a Christian. One night though, something happened. The presence of God entered my barracks and Jesus touched my life. I surrendered to Him that night and started a lifelong journey of following Jesus.

It’s all really because of one Airman’s faithful uncompromising love for me that I am a Christian today. He refused to give in to the culture of conformity that I was neck deep in. Commit today to be exceptional for Christ and go against the tide of the typical military lifestyle. God will use your faithfulness to bring others into a relationship with himself.

Full

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (John 1:16–18, ESV)

These words tell us that there is a fulness in Christ. There is a fulness of essential Deity, for “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead.” There is a fulness of perfect manhood, for in him, bodily, that Godhead was revealed. There is a fulness of atoning efficacy in his blood, for “the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” There is a fulness of justifying righteousness in his life, for “there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” There is a fulness of divine prevalence in his plea, for “He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him; seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” There is a fulness of victory in his death, for through death he destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil. There is a fulness of efficacy in his resurrection from the dead, for by it “we are begotten again unto a lively hope.” There is a fulness of triumph in his ascension, for “when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and received gifts for men.” There is a fulness of blessings of every sort and shape; a fulness of grace to pardon, of grace to regenerate, of grace to sanctify, of grace to preserve, and of grace to perfect. There is a fulness at all times; a fulness of comfort in affliction; a fulness of guidance in prosperity. A fulness of every divine attribute, of wisdom, of power, of love; a fulness which it were impossible to survey, much less to explore. “It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.” Oh, what a fulness must this be of which all receive! Fulness, indeed, must there be when the stream is always flowing, and yet the well springs up as free, as rich, as full as ever. Come, believer, and get all thy need supplied; ask largely, and thou shalt receive largely, for this “fulness” is inexhaustible, and is treasured up where all the needy may reach it, even in Jesus, Immanuel—God with us. 


Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.