Being Weird

Those of you who know me will understand why I had to buy a book titled, Being weird, because normal isn’t working. It is a great book by Craig Groeschel that points out that if the way of Jesus is the narrow way then maybe the church should not be just going with the crowds. That if we are to be salt and light we have to be a little different from the society around us so that we can add a little flavour and illuminate those places in society that are dark and dangerous. It is a difficult book to read in many ways. After all in the Western World it has long been assumed that being a good citizen and being a good Christian were interchangeable. To then read in a book that says that we should not just be going along with the crowd, that we are supposed to be an alternative community of peace, love and grace that maybe does not quite fit in with the norms of the world around us is actually quite difficult.
But do we have any choice? The Kingdom of God is still growing, thanks to the growth of the church in other parts of the world outstripping the loses in the first world but there is obviously something that is wrong here. We have become too comfortable. We have tried to fit in with society and with the current values it supports instead of the Biblical virtues that, unlike values, do not change. In an attempt to bolster church numbers we have made the church so shallow that there is no depth of commitment. We need to realise that it is OK to be a little weird, that we are not the in-crowd, that our lives in Jesus Christ will be different from the lives of non-believers around us. Being normal is quite clearly not working, the precipitous fall in membership over the last forty to fifty years shows us that. Maybe it is time to be a little weird, to say we should stick out because of our love, peace and grace. Let’s all be a little weird this week.

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