Where is the Power?

If Christ is in us, where is the power?  Why are we falling into depression and anxiety?  Why is the divorce rate in the church as high as the world?  Why are so many of us walking around holding grudges and being offended by others in the church.  Where is the power to not only live out a victorious life in Christ, but also a life that influences those around us in a dynamic way?  Can those around us even recognize a difference in us?  Can they see that we are different in some way?  Are we loving as Christ would?  Or are we staying in our comfort zones, our own little church cliques?  Are we laying down our lives for those around us in tangible, real ways?  I ask these questions of myself. 

I think of theJews in Susa as mentioned in the book of Esther...they were captives and yet no one could even tell the jews from the gentiles...they had so assimilated into the culture.  In our culture uniqueness is not celebrated as much as conformity is mandated.  If we do not conform...there is something wrong with us...I think of the scripture that says to be "in the world, but not of it."  The scriptures do not call us to conformity, but rather to a life of purity, to live out the uniqueness in which God made us, which is totally anti-cultural.  People think you are weird if you do not sleep with your boyfriend/girlfriend before marriage, or disagree with homosexuality, or hate abortion.  It is not "politically correct" to believe this way, but whose standards are we exemplyifying?  Are we assimilating into the culture to such a degree that we are indiscernible from the rest of the world?  This is where our power comes from.  To live in the power of Christ and to be so secure in who He called us to be that we are not afraid of criticism from those around us that we walk with such confidence that we can live out the truth without fear...