God’s creation is very intricate and varied and reveals how incredibly wise He truly is. A case in point is the chameleon. Their ability to adapt to their surroundings by changing their color is a brilliant (pun intended!) feature in God’s design. Some scientists think they do this to reflect their change of mood and some to adjust to temperature and light but most seem to be of the view that it is more of a defense mechanism. Our Creator knows what He’s doing either way !!
I was fascinated by chameleons as a boy, so I ordered some through the mail and several came. I didnt have much luck with most of them though as they died one by one. Well, maybe — a few years later my brother was in our basement and was startled by a rather good size lizard like creature lurking in the dark furnace room ! I guess that one adapted pretty well ! HA !! Watch that furnace room Mom !!
Our churches today have often become like the chameleon in the sense that we seek desperately to “blend in” while God says our stance should be very much the opposite ! Peter reminds us, “But ye are a chose generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a PECULIAR people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him Who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1Pt.2:9) !!
One of my favorite illustrations of just how vital this is came out of a conversation I had with a star Penn State football player several years ago. He was being pulled two different ways. On the one hand, his uncle was trying to convert him to Islam, on the other I had been witnessing to him about accepting Christ. His words hit me like a ton of bricks when he said, “Why should I get saved and accept your Jesus when all the guys who claim to be Christian on the team listen to the same type of music I do? Why get saved, there’s NO DIFFERENCE??!!” He was right, we need to be different, we need to be Christlike and our music also needs to reflect not contradict biblical principles. Nothing in our life as a Christian should be otherwise !!
More and more and more churches are losing the battles to an encroaching worldliness that Christians are permitting. And often I think the bottom line is we want to fit in, we want to do what we want, listen to what we want, go where we want, etc when we should be measuring all our decisions by Eph.5:10 “proving what is acceptable unto the Lord” ! Being peculiar for Christ is eternally critical, people will not come to Him if they see a Christian in a storm without His peace, they will be more prone to turn to the Lord when they finally see someone doing whats right over what’s popular. So today determine that you will crucify self to Christ, live FOR Him not the other way around. The great irony of God’s design is when life is not lived revolving around us life is satisfying. God promises a special intimacy to the believer who chooses “separating unto Him” as the Bible says “be ye seperate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a Father unto you . . .” (2Cor.6:17,18). Adaptability may be great for the chameleon but it can spell disaster for people !