Break the Mold
It seems that everywhere we go there are subtle and not-so-subtle attempts to persuade us into believing and doing certain things. The average American is bombarded with hundreds, if not thousands of advertisements each day by companies striving for a pathway into our souls, as well as our pocketbooks. It’s true that wherever our souls are, our money follows. Many of the methods used by corporate advertisers are deceptive and untruthful, promising happiness and health if we will only buy their product. These fads and obsessions are efforts to get as many people as possible to think and behave the same way. Unfortunately, they’ve been successful. If we look at the people around us we will see very little originality displayed in their lives. This has been a strategic plan to rob us of our identities through social conformity, and leaving us dependant and lifeless. It’s a critical point in time, and the individuality of every person is being attacked on all fronts by forces that attempt a mass effort to program us with a herd mentality. It’s true that many people resemble sheep in their daily lives, believing and doing what they were programmed through years of brainwashing by commercials and social programming. It’s obvious by the current obesity rates that America has become a nation of people living on automatic, a people merely going through the motions. We’re more concerned with convenience than conviction, and make excuses for unhappiness. We’ve been duped into accepting the lie that adapting to the standards of the world around us is our only option. This goes far deeper than what we eat or the clothes we wear, but to the very core of our believe system, and impacting the way we see ourselves and one another. Without a doubt, we are a nation of people who have forgotten our identities. Most people have never even come to the nexus of understanding who they are in the eyes of God, and turn to destructive behavior as a way of dealing with it. We are seeing depression and suicide on a scale like never before. The root cause of many of the issues of drug and alcohol addiction can be attributed to the loss of individual value, as can be the rise of the occult and false religion. Many churches serve to turn people into carbon copies of one another with their lack of originality and one-size-fits-all approach. This religious method has turned many into modern-day Pharisees. It’s a spiraling sequence of events leading us closer to our own destruction. Still, we are not without a way of escape. God loves us too much to leave us as prisoners of our own devices, and seeks to free and enlighten us. His path is the only way out. The Holy Scriptures tell us that we were each created in the image of the one true God (Genesis 1:27), that we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Psalm 139:14), and that we are ‘His workmanship’ (Ephesians 2:10), just as different from one another as the stars in the sky. This is the foundational truth that makes us who we are. It’s spiritual. We were never intended to be herded into a grand social matrix, and programmed to dress, think and act the same. Quite to the contrary. We were designed to reflect the beauty of our Creator through our individual uniqueness and styles. This is why it’s so tragic to see a great mass of clones, people who all strive to fit it, looking and thinking the same as everyone else. No church or systematic involvement can give us value. This is something that must come from a heart and mind that’s been enlightened. We should break out of the social mold of our surrounding world. There is more to living than eating the same unhealthy food that most people eat, believing the same news that the mainstream media tries to sell everyone on. We’ve come to a point in time where people who desire to live free will come to realize how vital it is to break free. Choosing to think differently than our surrounding culture is challenging, but vital to our well-being. Becoming aware of the seductive programming that’s persuaded you towards unknowingly destructive living is essential. It’s time to wake up. We’ve played it safe for far too long. Resemblance is a luxury our souls cannot afford. Following the voice of truth, let’s decide not to ‘conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind...’ (Romans 12:2). We can only find our true destinies through an encounter with the living God. Let’s decide today to be who we were created to be, and think differently about ourselves and others.
(This article was originally published in May, 2013 for The Examiner.com.)
