Living As A Christian Looks Weird

Note: Above is the talk I gave at my church’s Mother-Daughter Banquet. I’m not one to do a lot of public speaking, but I had a good time. I decided to post it to my blog because the topic fit in so well with The Set-Apart Walk. If you’d rather watch the video, my devotional starts right after the end of the song.

Cool Girl, Demoted

I’d like to start with a story. Once upon a time, I was popular. This time was elementary school, and I was the least cool member of the cool clique. But still, I was popular. Then, we entered junior high in 7^th grade, and I was promptly demoted.

My friends didn’t completely reject me, but they slowly replaced me with the popular crowd while keeping me at an arm’s length. They took various art classes and home economics. I took two years of Spanish to start a year ahead in high school. Not only was I in choir and audition only choir. I also joined a credit-free choir that met daily at six in the morning. Let’s just say our interests no longer overlapped, and frankly, they didn’t want to be seen with me because the popular crowd had no interest in me. It was hard to feel my friends leaving, but I felt secure as myself. Until I had a revelation.

A Weird Revelation

At 14, I was walking in the hall between classes when a small group of cool kids came walking toward me with purpose. You know this walk, right? It’s like when the lifeguard says not to run, so you walk as fast as humanly possible to get back in line for the diving board. But you’re not technically running.

In an instant they surrounded me, and one of them said, “I just think you should know…” Life Hack: “I just think you should know” typically means you’re about to be offended or on the receiving end of some gossip. This was both. The cool kid told me that one of those former best friends was making fun of me to her entire art class.

Soon after, this old friend came down the hall and saw all her art class pals circled around me. She approached, though she should have seen this was a set-up, and I asked her if what they said was true. Without missing a beat she said, “Julie, it’s just that you’re so weird!” She left while everyone there laughed under their breath and stared at me. This was one of the most humiliating moments of my fourteen years on earth.

Ultimately, the embarrassment was not a big deal. In the grand scheme of things, this moment was just that. A moment. But I’m here, twenty-four years later, talking to you ladies about it. It has been burned into my memory. I had a revelation that people were paying attention to me, and they were making judgments. In this case, I was weird, and I didn’t want to be.

I determined to blend into the wall from then on. My goal was simple. Be like everyone else. Not so shockingly, this approach to living “under the radar” did not begin with me. Many people, (most people?), go through something like this eventually. We try to fit in, and we turn to the people around us for guidance in our behavior.

Turning To The World For Guidance

So, who did I turn to? The world. I wasn’t a Christian, therefore, that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. But what about Christians? Do you think they turn to the world for cues on how to live? I promise you that many do. According to a Barna study conducted in 2017, 17% of Christians who reported that their faith is important and attend church regularly have a biblical worldview. This should cause alarm when we explore what God has to say about the world.

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

2 Timothy 3:1-5

I’m not here to say whether or not we are in “end times,” but you’ve been living under a rock if these verses don’t remind you of the current culture in which we live. Check out what Paul says at the end of the section of Scripture.

“From such turn away.” We have no business as Christian women associating ourselves with these things. As far as more instruction goes for how NOT to live, look at Colossians.

“But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;”

Colossians 3:8-9

As believers, we are instructed to put off old habits and behaviors that we commonly participated in as unbelievers. Don’t think this verse sounds like how people act these days? Spend some time on Facebook, and you’ll regularly see all this on full display.

I participated in this life without question. I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t know why I knew that. Besides, everyone else was living the same way, and I did not want to stick out.

Salvation Leads To A Center Stage Faith

Then, on May 3, 2009 I stopped my three-month long run from Jesus. I knew He was the Son of God. I believed He was the Savior who had suffered and died on the cross for the sins of the world, for my sins. Jesus came to earth all man and all God, lived a perfect life free of sin, and willingly took my punishment. I even believed that He was raised to life three days later, defeating death. But I spent three months wrestling with whether or not I needed Him. I mean, I was a pretty good person… That’s what I told myself, but I knew I was lying. I knew I would never be good enough to save myself.

Finally, I gave up on my own power and strength. I admitted to God and to myself that I was lost, powerless, and had spent twenty-six years in sin and rebellion against my Creator. I was hopeless without Him, and I wanted not just His salvation but his Lordship, too.

But the most unexpected thing happened. It was like Jesus had taken a hold of my collar and pulled me off the wall and put me center stage for everyone to see!

We Are All In The Fishbowl

There’s a common misnomer among Christians involving pastors. People say the pastor and his family live in a metaphorical fishbowl because the church watches every move they make. This is more or less true depending on the church, I suppose. The misnomer, however, is that this experience is reserved for ministry families alone. Like it or not, you’re in the fishbowl if you’re a born-again Christian.

Think of the unsaved people you have contact with on a regular basis. It could be family, friends, co-workers, or other various community members. Sure, you probably share the gospel with them, but you likely won’t do that every single time you see them. You’ll have organic interactions without forced conversation. And, if they know you are a Christian, then they are watching you with laser focus.

People look at us and wait expectedly for something. Some people notice the ways we are different and want to know more. They appreciate how we seem unlike other people. Still others watch and wait for us to fail. They are looking for a reason to support their animosity towards Christianity.

The Bar Is Set High For Us

Unbelievers might not know why they expect so much from us, why the bar is set so high, but we do. Look at First Peter.

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

1 Peter 2:9-10

These verses put our lives in the correct perspective. Who are we to God and what ought or response to that be? My identity can encompass a lot of nouns and adjectives. I’m a wife, mother, daughter, friend, and coffee enthusiast. I’m anxious, passionate, intense, shy, and painfully afraid of public speaking. More than all that, though, I’m a Christian.

Christians are a “chosen generation.”

You didn’t just stumble into your faith in Christ. God desires this relationship with you. Additionally, this expression implies we are a unique group of people, distinct from the rest of the world. We are a family united in Christ.

Christians are a “royal priesthood.”

Peter’s audience understood the important role of priest quite well. The priest had access to God that others did not. Here, Peter is not only describing believers as part of a royal lineage (a saved woman is a daughter of the King, after all), but also as having a closeness and relationship with God they could never have had without Christ.

Christians are a “holy nation”.

Oh dear! This is hard for me to say. I never look in the mirror and think, “Julie, you sure are holy.” The word holy has a cultural picture of annoyingly perfect people or angels in white robes playing golden harps. Well, I can’t play any instruments, and perfection is certainly not what makes me annoying.

Believers, as holy people, are set-apart people. We are meant to be set apart from the world, but also to the Lord. There’s no point in rejecting worldly living unless you also embrace and seek out godly living.

The Scripture also refers to us as a nation. Together we are under the same King, and we follow the same laws. We are a unified people. Unified as one Church, not of this world.

Christians are “peculiar people.”

Nope. This doesn’t mean what you think. Although, don’t let me stop you from being a little peculiar. You do you! Peculiar, in this case, is referring to our being God’s possession. It is also often translated as purchased. The Lord has claimed us and bought us with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

Christians have “obtained mercy.”

What is mercy? It is unmerited favor bestowed upon us by God. You and I can do nothing to deserve His salvation, but He has shown us mercy and given us eternal life with Him.

Christians should praise Him. (1 Peter 2:9)

Our lives, as a result of these truths, should naturally lean toward praising God. Of course, we praise through corporate worship, prayer, songs, and studying the Word.

We can also praise Him in our daily lives with our walking testimonies. (The testimony people see, not hear.) What kind of attitude do you display? Are you apt to complain and worry, or do you demonstrate faith in the God who created the Universe and saved your soul? When I put it that way, it seems obvious what we should do, but it’s not always our natural reaction.

How about your words? Do you speak of the Lord to others? Do you speak respectfully and use language worthy of your position in God’s family?

How do you behave? Are you displaying the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

What’s The Point?

If you live like who you are in Christ, you’re going to be different. My friends, you will be weird. God has pulled you away from the ways of the world around us and called you to something far greater. It might sometimes feel like it would be easier to just blend in and do what everyone else is doing. Why not adopt the secular worldview and live by cultural norms? Apparently, 4 in 5 “good” Christians are doing it, and it would make life a lot easier sometimes.

Also, you might want to ignore that prompting from the Holy Spirit to speak up about Jesus. Fear of what others will think of us is real, but Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.”

God knew exactly what He was doing when He put you and your faith on full display. We are living witnesses to what Christ can do in the life of a wretched, lost, sinner. If we don’t stick out and look different from the culture and the norms of today, what are we saying that Christ did for us on the cross? What was the meaning of His resurrection?

It’s time to get real and acknowledge something true about ourselves. We are weird. When we live for Christ, we live antithetically to the world around us. Embrace your identity as a Christian woman. Praise Him in everything, no matter who can see. Let your life, actions, and speech be a testimony of the mercy and grace of our Lord. And, yes, stay weird because

“…ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Final Thought

Ultimately, it wasn’t the gospel clearly presented in a prepared speech that piqued my interest in Christ. It was the consistent and unusual lives of the Christians I knew. They were set apart for something different, and I wanted to know what that something was. Without my weird Christian friends, Christ would have blended into the wall, unnoticed and unremarkable. But they put Him into the spotlight with their lives, and today I can stand here as a Christian woman married to a pastor and loving Jesus more every day. You never know how your weird Christian life will affect those watching. For me, it was the difference between spiritual life and death.

Image courtesy of Dan Parlante via Unsplash.