Weird? Who? Me?

We have family members who live near a city whose motto is "Keep Austin Weird." Somehow that sounds a little off-putting and, to tell the truth, the weirdness seen in that city is often progressive to the point of being offensive to traditional Christian values. But as off-putting as bad weird can be, did you know that there's also a good weird?

Believe it or not, good weird comes from following after Christ. The truth is that if you're a Christian, everyone is NOT going to love you. Your language is different, you don't go to the places many like to frequent, you hold back when colleagues eviscerate another colleague not present, you actually like going to church ... in a word, you are different, as in, completely different from the world at large. In Bible-speak that translates into peculiar (or weird, if you will) (Peter 2:9).

Psychologists tell us that wanting to feel accepted is part of the norm for the human psyche. Human beings have an innate need to conform to those around them in order to be accepted and feel protected. That's all well and good—until we get into those areas where our Christian mores conflict with the norms of the world around us. Then we need to stick out. Then we need to be "different."

I have a little friend who was somewhat put out when her high school friends, at a small informal gathering at a peer's home, told her to wait a bit outside on the patio. They were going to listen to something they knew would go against her Christian values. Put out? Hmm ... sounds like she had a little learning to do about who she was. Apparently she had lived her Christianity well enough to be a living epistle read by all men (2 Corinthians 2:2-3). It was great that her friends respected that and honored her values and her God by seeking to conserve the integrity of what she heard. Aside from appreciating that fact, she needed to begin to pray that the respect those friends were showing her would morph into a yearning to know her God for themselves. Having them treat her in this way was nothing for which to be offended—it was a great big plus. They had recognized that she was different.

Well did Paul point out that the man who does not know Jesus, the natural man, does not understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). While in the natural order of things man yearns to be loved and accepted by all, we who follow after Christ are a step above. We, those who are part of the Kingdom of Christ, yearn for something more—the very presence of God. How do we get that precious commodity?

As the saying in Spanish goes, "Todo lo que vale la pena cuesta." Translation: Everything worth having comes at a cost. There can be no wheat without the seed breaking apart to let out new life. There can be no masterpiece without sacrifice of time and effort. There can be no delicious bread without waiting for the leaven to rise and laboriously kneading the dough until it reaches a state of delectable lightness. There can be no new bouncing baby without the pain of carrying the child months on end then enduring arduous labor. In other words, those who would have something of value in the life need to be a cut above those who would do things in a haphazard willy-nilly way. If we would have the very presence of God in our lives, it will only come at the cost of living a life that is pleasing to Him to the best of our ability (Jeremiah 29:13).

So as we bravely live out our mores, let's not quail before the curled lips of ridicule. Let's raise our chins high and revel in the fact that we are different. That we do not feel constrained to compromise our beliefs so that we can fit in. Let us be that peculiar people. That people who personify the glory and majesty of God through their actions.

Let's go be weird for Jesus.

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

"And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God" (Philippians 1:28).