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October 6, 2005
Are we normal?
He's always happy....NO, wait, he's always mad [crazy].
- Homer Simpson on God.
In AA Meetings, normal people are the ones that are out in the world. Most "normies" have problems and addictions of some sort, but the normal ones are not those that are seeking to overcome. Likewise, those in the Church, the followers of Christ, are by no means called to be normal. Normal in the world is get, in Christ, it's give. You've likely heard the scriptures, "the first shall be last", "in order to lead, serve", and so on.
The problem in the Church is that we try to make the church a normal part of life. Religion is normal, just about everyone has religion of some sort - even Atheist have a belief. But all religion does is make you judgmental. Religion leads to war, not to love. Followers of Christ are not called to be religious (normal), we called to be followers of Christ (different).
When God pronounced the judgment against Israel through Ezekiel, it was because they "profaned my holy things." Ezekiel 22:26. The Hebrew word "profane" means to "make ordinary" or normalize. The church has normalized God. We judge what is a successful church on the worlds standards - how much was the offering, how many people attended certain programs, or the number of baptisms or converts. Although stewardship, attendance, and new believers are signs, they are by no means accurate depictions of what a successful church should be, nor are they anywhere near the goal.
The church must stop playing by the rules of the world and Robert's Rules and begin paying attention to the rules of the Spirit. God didn't call us to be normal, he called us as His chosen people - to be the light of the world. God called us to a standard, not just a standard of personal holiness so that we can commune with him, but a standard of community where we live in the world around us - just not like "normies".
Posted by Jesse at October 6, 2005 10:16 PM