Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another… Hebrews 10:24
I’ve been there. I’ve watched those people going door to door, hoping to convert me to their faith and I’ve thought, I don’t want to be like them. God, I don’t want to be weird. I’ve feared that following God may mean that I have to become a nut.
Those nuts that go door to door may not have it all figured out, but following God is going to be very different from our natural state of following self. Following God is not our normal disposition. We are naturally self-serving creatures and as such, will find it going against the grain to follow God. God’s way is by definition, antithetical to our way.
In the verses above for instance, the writer of Hebrews says we are to congregate with other believers for the purpose of motivating each other to love and to do good works. This is weird. Who does this? Hey, let’s get together this Friday night so we can dare each other to feed the hungry and visit those in prison.
As Christians however, loving God and loving others is to be the central focus of our lives. As Christians, we are not to be about self. We are to deny self and follow Christ. This will inevitably set us apart in a manner, which many will find peculiar.
Following God will always seem weird in the eyes of a world set on the pursuit of self. Many try to make following God cool, but popularity via fitting in does not seem to be God’s plan. If we are hung up on this, then we are still slaves to self and not able to follow God. Our preference for fitting in obstructs our obedience to God. This does not mean we have to go out of our way to look and act weird. The pursuit of God, by definition, will always look radically different than the pursuit of self.