Messy Spirituality #5 – Nothing Wrong With Being the Odd One Out
When we were kids growing up there were times when we just did not fit in with the crowd. As a kid we moved some and I switched schools and churches a little while was a kid. There is nothing like being the new kids walking into a classroom or church. You just feel like the odd one out. Everyone knows everyone else and no one knows you.
You would hope that as we grew up that feeling would go away. Then we learn that with spirituality the oddness just continues. As a pastor I have several conversations about spirituality and sometimes when I listen to my answers to questions they just seem odd. At times even in my adult life being spiritual just seems odd. The strange thing is that God does not see being odd as odd. In fact we are going to see how even Jesus at times was considered odd.
Being spiritual means not always fitting in with the crowd
Peter was a guy who was a normal fisherman. He was working with his brother and dad when Jesus invited him to become his friend and follower. He sticks with it, even though at one point he considered walking away, and later writes a letter to encourage the other believers. In 1 Peter 2:11 – 12 he writes: “Dear friends, you are like foreigners and strangers in the world. I beg you to avoid the evil things your bodies want to do that fight against your soul. People who do not believe are living all around you and might say that you are doing wrong. Live such good lives that they will see the good things you do and will give glory to God on the day when Christ comes again.”
Peter tells us from the beginning that we are going to be odd. Christianity calls us to live differently than we did before. When we change those who knew us before our faith may see us as odd now. Peter tells us that when we no longer make decisions to fulfill the desires of our bodies that it will be odd. We are surrounded by people who will not always understand our faith we need to live such good lives that though they question our God at times they do not question our lives. Many times they will question our beliefs, but we cannot give them the opportunity to question how you treat others. We always need to remember that we were called to show people a different way to live. That means we may not always fit in, maybe even be a little odd.
There is no balance in a life of faith
We are told that we should live balanced lives. They even talk about eating a balanced diet. We look for balance and for acceptance at times. But, we need to remember that being balanced is a myth to get us to not be honest. Our lives sometimes are so busy that we miss our spiritual practices and after a while it begins to show in our lives. Some days we have it all together and then there are the other 364 days of the year. We need to be honest about not always being on top of our spiritual game. People around us will see it and wonder what is off with us that day.
I believe that spirituality calls for honesty. We cannot hide anything from other people. We know that because we have watched people our whole life try to hide things from us. So we need to be honest about being odd and let people know we are finding our way trusting God to lead us. So be honest about your oddness and embrace the journey.
Messy spirituality is a lot tougher than plain old spirituality
When Jesus invited the disciples to join him and learn he laid out something that they might not have expected. In Matthew 10:16 it says “Listen, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as smart as snakes and as innocent as doves.” It is tough to know how to follow those words at times. The call to be wise and yet to be manipulative or controlling is tough. It would be awesome to just have a script that we could follow and the regulations all be lined up and no guess work. That is not how it works. It is to work out our salvation with God. That does not mean working for our salvation, working it out. Finding our way of doing spirituality is tough work. We cannot just follow a pattern or road map or four simple points and get to where we need to be. It is the tough work of finding our connection to our spiritual life and making it work for ourselves.
That is the problem with messy spirituality. It causes us to stretch our spirits to places we never knew or expected. So lean into your oddness and accept your path. So be odd, just not so odd that you drive people away from our God. He places us in their lives to help them find their way to their spirituality.