Notes on Leaving CloneVille Today
This week, I began a series called Leaving CloneVille Today on my PathFinders Tuesday Morning Devotion show. The feedback was absolutely CRAMAZING!!! I found out that like me, many people have had to deal with the temptation of becoming a clone! We all have people that we admire and people that we think are absolutely amazing; but some of us go beyond those initial thoughts and try to recreate ourselves from what we see.
Recreating ourselves is the result of rejecting ourselves. When we find someone who talks like we want to talk, prays like we want to pray and worships God in the way we hope to, we sometimes have this idea that we are supposed to leave ourselves behind and be baptized into their way of living. Here’s a thought: If God wanted all of us to look the same, act the same, dress the same and behave the same way, He wouldn’t have created so many different cultures and diverse ways of thinking. Even in the garden, Eve was very different from Adam. She also thought differently too.
God loves the fact that you are different. He honors the fact that you think the way you do. And even with your special way of thinking, He looks at you and embraces you as His own. He isn’t afraid of your differences and He knows just how to get to your heart and cause you to walk in forward progress. The truth is, forward progress is never an option for us when we are trying to be someone else. Forward progress is a benefit of you being YOU.
I had a few thoughts concerning CloneVille; but I didn’t want people to believe that I was talking about a specific church, a specific religion or a specific train of thought. CloneVille is bigger than that! It is the state of mind that rejects one’s own authentic originality to embrace the lifestyle and methods of another. It’s where we belittle ourselves to put others on a pedestal.
The Truth About Clones:
1. Clones cannot create legacies themselves. They are okay with using their energy to build other people’s dreams without fulfilling their own.
2. Clones do not have foresight. They depend on the foresight of those they admire more than themselves.
3. Clones cannot be mothered and fathered; therefore, they are unable to Father their own children. In other words, clones CANNOT reproduce.
4. Clones cannot properly connect with others. They have no tribe. Their inability to be aware of their authentic originality blocks their ability to connect.
5. Clones are not creative. They can only do what they’ve seen others do.
Now, I am not against learning from other people and taking other people’s examples at all. I believe Jesus is the greatest example of the heart of God. We all need to follow His ways and take in what He prescribed for our way of life. In Romans 8:29, we find that Jesus is the “firstborn of many brethren,” and we are being “conformed” into His "image.” That is a mouthful! “Many brethren” means that there are many differences. Offspring from the same source always come out with different personalities and differing expressions. Being changed into His image doesn’t mean that I dress like and have the same personality that Jesus has. Instead, it means that I am being transformed to become like Him on the inside. God is desiring that my heart be the mirror image of Jesus’ heart. My personality and the way that I do things may be very different; but if I do what I do, and live how I live with the heart of Jesus, then my expression of life will bring glory to God.
So many of us live in CloneVille without even knowing it. We do what we’ve seen others do. We go where others tell us to go and we never see life outside of that state of mind. If you’re wondering if you’ve got a little bit of CloneVille going on in your mindset, ask yourself these questions:
1. Am I willing to go with my own heart decision - even if my decision is not popular?
2. Am I constantly wondering what people will think if I show them the real me?
3. Do I often feel bad when making a decision that is best for me and my family but brings discomfort to others?
4. Am I indecisive? Why?
5. How much time do I spend longing for and working toward the approval of the person I admire?
These are just a few notes on Leaving CloneVille Today. Next week, I’ll send you more!