DNA

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

This phrase in Numbers 14:24, “a different spirit” has been resonating in my thoughts. I think sometimes I have reduced it to responding differently in the moment, to not giving in the fear, or choosing to be nice when I want to snarl.

It may look like that from the outside, but I have been thinking about how, although the prevailing culture in that moment was one of intimidation and fear, there was something within Caleb that resisted that and walked a different path, declaring things from God’s perspective, not man’s.

For those of us who are born again, we have ‘another spirit’, the spirit of God within us, in fact we are united as one with God’s spirit so that our spirits are entwined in a way that you cannot see where one begins and the other ends. 1 Corinthians 6:17 tells us:

But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one with him in spirit.

Our very spiritual DNA has been changed. Scripture tells us we have been moved from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light – two different kingdoms, with two very different ideologies. We are a new creation in him. So often when we think about the idea of being of a different spirit, I think we become focussed on our behaviour, on our words, on our changed activities. All of that matters. Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5:8 to

Walk as children of the light

The implication being that this walk looks like something. However, if we focus on what is visible, on our actions, or on our words for that matter, we end up focussing on externals and it is easy to end up in performance, in religiosity, in striving.

This transformation starts with the fact that we have a different spirit, the HOLY spirit. He is the one who effects that spiritual miracle as we surrender our lives to his leading, to his voice. This is not an overnight change for any of us. It has taken me years to develop the mindsets and understandings, beliefs and thought patterns I have, as a result of life experiences, upbringing and the factors relating to where and when I was born, so it will take more than a minute or two to change those mindsets. This necessitates allowing the Holy Spirit to show me where my culture, my DNA, diverges from the culture of heaven and so where I need to learn to be led by a different spirit.

I have missed it several times over the past few weeks, for example joining in with negative “banter” towards those I love, even though it was actually demeaning. I have been washed in a different kind of culture where that was acceptable, “normal”. I have been contemplating how I am to deal with these kind of situations; from challenging unhealthy, demeaning comments about myself or others outright, instead of my habit of laughing them off to avoid awkwardness or offence, to changing the subject, or walking away. Challenge or confrontation in the moment does not have to be aggressive, or awkward but I have to be willing to go against the flow. Ecclesiastes 3:7 reminds us there is

a time to be silent and a time to speak

What I have witnessed in the last month, as I have watched my friends operating out of a different spirit in a very secular and at times hostile context, has absolutely looked like different behaviour, and different responses but it comes from the fact that their very culture, their DNA is different, not from an external pressure to try and be different, to try and perform. Everything about us is to be “counter-cultural”. The result is that it leaves a very different, “other” flavour in the atmosphere. The Message version of Matthew 5:13 reminds us:

Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

That is strong! It is so much more than trying to be a “nice” person. So much more even than trying not to give in to fear and intimidation and to respond with faith in the moment. It is an internal transformation, which is as Titus 3:4-5 reminds us, not due to our efforts:

But when God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

We achieve new life through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, not through our efforts. Our identity is changed and as we live lives surrendered to the work of Holy Spirit in us, he transforms us to be more like Jesus whose DNA we carry. Holiness is a result of surrendering to his work in us. Holiness is walking in the truth that we are different. Holiness is a testament to his DNA in us; it is the fact that we are set apart, unlike the prevailing culture because we have a different spirit within us, and we are allow that HOLY spirit to be our lead, our influence, our director, the one who is in charge!

So maybe we need to stop trying to fit in. Maybe we need to stop trying to be acceptable. Maybe we need to be OK with being different because we are supposed to be. Our culture is supposed to look like the culture of heaven. Heaven’s culture is righteousness, peace and joy. Heaven’s culture is freedom. Heaven’s culture is justice, not earthly justice but God’s justice where things are not necessarily fair but they are right.

We are meant to be salty. We are meant to shine brightly. We are meant to be of a different spirit. Which means we need to get comfortable with others finding us uncomfortable. We do not have to be deliberately provocative, deliberately antagonistic, but our lives lived differently will provoke and upset those who want us to conform to the prevailing culture in our world. We are not of this world, we belong to God. As Romans 8:14 reminds us:

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Caleb was a lone voice going against the flow. He was joined in that dissent by Joshua who spent his time dwelling in the presence of God, in the tent of meeting, so he too was saturated with the culture of heaven. I wonder how many of us are willing to be a lone voice. I wonder how many of us are willing to speak when necessary, and to not blindly follow the status quo because “everyone else” is. It is time to do what Isaiah 60:1-3 tells us to do:

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Unlike the childhood version of me, who tried to convince my parents to let me do what “everyone else” was doing, I want to be more concerned about God’s opinion on a matter, than other people’s. I want to be brave. I want to be a ‘voice’ of love and compassion, (by my words, but also my actions, my attitudes, and my demeanour) absolutely, but also a voice of uncompromising truth when appropriate too because it is the truth that sets us free and there are people trapped in the captivity of darkness, trapped in the lies of the enemy.

Maybe you want to pray with me:

Holy Spirit, I give you permission to access every area of my life that does not reflect heaven’s culture; I ask you to permeate every area of my life: body, soul and spirit – every attitude, every mindset, every thought process, every belief, everywhere my culture has shaped and formed me into an image that is not the image of God.