If you don’t know it by now, I’m a guy who’s not into religion; in part, because I was born with the heart of a renegade, not with the heart of a robot. As I share this renegade idea with more and more people, I find that there are more and more renegades out there. But you can’t always identify a renegade by what they wear, how they speak, or what they do for a living.
Being a renegade is a heart thing. Being a renegade for God is a whole new way of seeing myself in the world. There is a new movement that I am a part of called, The Gathering. This week I am beginning a series entitled, “Loving God Without Becoming an Arrogant, Self-Righteous, Know-It-All.” that’s at the heart of the book, A Renegade’s Guide to God.
How do you love God without becoming an arrogant, self-righteous, know-it-all? How do you love God without becoming tamed, weak, and without an idea of your own? As I talk with people and discuss this idea, there are patterns that seem to develop. If you wonder whether or not you’re a renegade, and in my case a renegade for God, here are the 10 Signs You Might be a Renegade. Take your own test.
1. You might be a renegade if you don’t like being told what to do and how to think
2. You might be a renegade if you don’t like being told what you can’t do, what you can’t achieve or accomplish because you don’t have the education or the money, the connections or the right privileges.
3. You might be a renegade if you don’t like being treated like a robot, who’s supposed to check your brain at the door and listen to sermons and live your life on the basis of religious rules that don’t seem to make any sense.
4. You might be a renegade if you don’t like being lumped in with a bunch of religious people who say things that don’t agree with how you feel. Just because you are a follower of Jesus Christ doesn’t mean that you believe exactly the same way other people do on religious radio or TV.
5. You might be a renegade if you don’t like being labeled, or limited by the color of your skin, your family of origin, or other surface issues that have nothing to do with the quality of your character or the content of your heart.
6. You might be a renegade if you feel deep down inside you were born for a special purpose, that you do indeed have a destiny.
7. You might be a renegade if you want to live free from the bondage of the past, the fears of the present, and the dreads of the future.
8. You might be a renegade if you want to have fun in life. That may sound like something that’s not important, but I have found that it’s key. If there is no fun at all, you’re doing something terribly wrong, and renegades know it.
9. You might be a renegade if you want to live a fulfilling life, not an easy life, but a life that is worth the effort; that you can live, love, and leave a legacy; that it matters that you’ve been here.
10. You might be a renegade if you dare to believe that God loves you as you are, not as you ought to be. He has a plan for your life and is more than willing to do greater things for you than you ever dared imagine.
These are just some of the signs. I’ll talk about more of them as we go through the next several weeks at The Gathering.