Acts 29:1 ‘Now the remnant that were following Jesus spent most of their time working in order for them to remain comfortable. They walked and talked like those who didn’t believe and yet professed they had Christ in their hearts’

…..if you haven’t realised already, this isn’t in the bible. Acts only has 28 chapters. We are living in Acts 29, because the book is unfinished and we are the apostles. But sadly, I struggle to see how our stories could go along side verses describing the disciples being thrown into prisons, stoned, and living wholly for His glory. Maybe this sounds kind of fanatical right, kind of radical…kind of weird.

Weird (definition): suggesting something supernatural; unearthly.

We always associate weird with bad (and if you Google weird you really get some crazy results). Nobody really wants to be weird. Growing up, it was our deepest desire just to be normal and accepted. But now, looking at the definition of weird , it seems like we definitely should be weird.

We are unearthly: ‘Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls’ (1 Peter 2:11).

And we are supernatural, we have the divine spirit of God in us: “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD” (Micah 3:8).

So let’s face it…Christians are weird!

More importantly, as it says in Ephesians 5:1 ‘Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love,’ our ultimate aim is to become like Christ to become perfected in His likeness…and guess what? He was weird too!

Jesus says, don’t just avoid adultery because lust is adultery too. Weird! Jesus teaches that the first in life will be last in eternity and the last in life will be the first in eternity. Weird! Jesus teaches that if you give, it will be given to you. Weird! He teaches that when someone curses you, you should bless them. Weird! He tells us that when someone hits us on one cheek, we should give them the other one too. Weird! Jesus teaches that when someone wrongs you, you should forgive them. Weird! Jesus is weird!

‘He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem’. Isaiah 53:3

Do not be afraid to live radically and completely led by the spirit. If people think you are weird, or extreme….then you are doing it right! If you look around and struggle to see the difference between your life and that of a non-Christian, then its time to reflect and see if you are just a fan of Jesus or a follower. Are you fiery or are you lukewarm (Revelations 3:16)?

As Christians, it should be our expectation that we are persecuted and rejected for Christ’s sake, but in that we must remember this is no sacrifice because with every command there is a promise: ‘rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed’ (1 Peter 4:13).