As I read the bible, I have often thought that if I, we, anyone were to truly live out the gospel in the way that the early church did, we would look
crazy....
weird....
radical...
Whatever title you want to put on it- it would look completely different than the world. Sounds similar to John 17:16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of it." We shouldn't let things of the world bother us because this is not our home! Weird, right?
I am always mesmerized by the early apostles and how they took suffering. They would rejoice. They would welcome it. Can you imagine sitting in the jail and the guys in the next cell are singing Chris Tomlin while getting beat? Weird.
So I have to brag on my wife because she was so weird yesterday. I cant get past it.
She was in a car wreck yesterday. She is fine- just really sore. Her car on the other hand... totaled.
A teenage girl pulled out in front of her and Bre t-boned (no tebowed) her spinning the teenagers car 180 degrees into a ditch. I get the call at 7:19 of Bre fighting the tears to tell me what happened. I immediately get dressed and put on my cowboy boots with the thought that they would hurt the worse when I kicked whoever pulled out in front of my wife right in the teeth. I also contemplated grabbing my pistol (which I didn't). I hopped in the car to go grab my wife and gain vengeance for whoever did this to her.
Sounds normal, right? Every guy reading this is thinking "dang straight man!" That is totally of this world.
My wife, on the other hand, is weird. She walks over to the girl who is uncontrollably sobbing that pulled out in front of her and...
get this....
HUGS HER!!
She stands there holding in this girl in her arms telling her that she forgives her. That everyone is ok. That everything will be ok... I am getting teary eyed writing this. THAT IS SO WEIRD!! In that moment, Bre had every right to be mad and upset.
But she chose to be weird. She chose to be Christ to this girl. To love her. Comfort her. Support her. Forgive her. For every onlooker to that situation, Bre looked so weird because she looked so much like Jesus. I love my wife and am so proud of her.
Lets be weird. Lets be Jesus. This world needs it.
I love my weird sister, and God certainly was with her, working through her yesterday. We are all vessels here to do the Lord's work, even if it feels awkward, seems unnatural, or looks weird. So proud of my little sis for allowing her heart and not her adrenaline to lead her to that young girl. I pray that if I ever find myself in that situation I too will be weird. Love you, Bre.
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DeleteYou're right Gabe. Everyone reading this, including me, probably wondered "what was that girl thinking"? "Was she even paying attention"? When something has happenes to us, or something goes wrong, our initial instinct is to be vindictive. To get even. And sometimes we even believe that condemnation will restore the situation to its previous harmony. Unfortunately, that's one of our many flaws. Too often we put "human emotion" before "Christian emotion". Human emotion reflects on self; the I'm hurt, I'm broken; I've been wronged feeling. Bre experienced Christian emotion; the you're hurt, you're shaken, you're overwhelmed feeling. And the best part of the Christian emotion, is the last part, and that's the "WE can GET THROUGH this TOGETHER" solution. The blessing of this horrible situation is that nobody was seriously injured, and that Bre's mercy may influence that teenage girl to show the mercy she was shown down-the-road when it really matters. It's easy to explode when tension is high, but it takes a stronger person to stay cool under pressure. We have a lot to learn from Bre. You're example is inspiring.
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