You are So WEIRD!!!

OK, here's something Sherri hates to hear me say. When we go to the grocery store and the checker asks, 'Do you want paper or plastic?' I reply, 'Paper. I want to save a plastic tree.' The polite checker smiles and Sherri shakes her head while offering a quiet apology for the bad humor. Then she looks at me and says, 'You are so weird.' To which I reply, 'At least I didn't marry weird.'

This past weekend Mate went to a TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) Retreat. On Sunday evening Sherri and I went to offer our support with other parents for the kids. And the evening had a 1970's Jesus Loves Me feel to it. The leader played some Christian folk songs on his guitar and led a devotional. Kinda odd, maybe a bit weird- but you know what, overall I'd have to say it was pretty good- weirdness and all. And Mate enjoyed the weekend growing in his faith which was the best news of all.

Weirdness- it's something most people want to avoid like the plaque. In a world where 'sameness' is safe, even cool, oddness is to be avoided. But that is not what Jesus did or what He calls us to is it? Take for example our Sunday school lesson this past week. Jesus is eating at the house of a Pharisee when a sinful woman comes in and starts washing Jesus' feet with her hair and her tears. The Pharisee says to himself (in my rough translation), 'Prophet, schmofit, if Jesus is who He says He is He'd know this chick and this weirdness would be put to an end.' Instead Jesus tells a parable with a sharp lesson for Simon and then forgives the woman all her sins.

One definition for weird in Dictionary.com is 'unusual character'. That struck me as a term of dual meanings. Certainly it could mean an 'odd person', but couldn't it also mean a person of extrodinary integrity? To possess 'unusual character' means to love those who don't deserve love, to do the right and ethical thing in difficult situations, to have an unflinching committment to ones principles. A church filled with people of unusual character would be a great thing wouldn't it?

The Bible is loaded with unusual characters of both sorts. Some folks fit both definitions like John the Baptist. Bug eaters even in Jesus' day were considered weird- even if they also had unusual character. Jesus Himself was thought by many to be weird. Don't believe it? Just two verses prior to the story of the sinful woman, Jesus is called a glutton, a drunkard and one who eats with sinners and tax collectors. That made Him one strange cat- weird!

The origin of the word 'weird' means 'to become' like the Weird Sisters in Greek mythology who controlled human destiny, what people became (and because of their odd appearance we got our modern definition of weird). I like that original meaning of weird- 'becoming'. From our Christian perspective we are all 'becoming' a new creation through God's handiwork. We are God's 'weirdness' if you will, people becoming a new creation of unusual character through His touch.

Let's work on our weirdness this week- love God, demonstrate your love for others, get into the Word, stand firm on your principles- to do otherwise would not be very becoming of you! By the power of the Holy Spirit I pray you will have your weirdest week ever. And one last thing, as you become the person God has called you to be, make sure to always ask for paper, and save a plastic tree.

Weird Regards,
kp