Here’s a memory tickler for you. The lyrics are a gift from the Brothers Gibb – the Bee Gees – c. 1968: “You think that I don’t even mean a single word I say! It’s only words and words are all I have
to take your heart away…” Only “words?” Now that the Olympics are behind us, for the next couple of months, that’s the competition we’ll be watching and hearing…

For the aliens among us – who have come from other planets and don’t understand the game of politics – here’s a primer: during a political campaign, the only weapons wielded are words. After the votes are counted, the talking is over… and the time for action begins. 

In the recent verbal volleys between presidential campaigns, one side has launched a barrage that they think has some stickiness: when remarking about the other party’s candidates, the charge raised about them has now become de rigueur: the “other guys” are just weird.

Ask the wordsmiths – the folks in charge of dictionaries and definitions – and their examination of that term is interesting. Those sources suggest that the meaning of weird implies uniqueness that borders on the supernatural, very strange and unexpected. “Peculiar” is a synonym of note.

My only claim to artistic performance is my effort with words as the colors that I use to create a notable message on the canvas of a digital page. Words are important to me; they seem to be a pretty big deal to God, as well. He used the Greek word logos – translated in your Bible as “Word” – to describe the eternal wisdom of God, embodied in Jesus who was

“the Word (who) became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14).

When God paints the picture of His work among mere humans, He suggests some important reclassifications. To the Jews of antiquity, he said through Moses:

“For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord has chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth” (Deuteronomy 14:2).

To the followers of Jesus, He ups the ante:

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Doubling-down, through Paul’s protégé Titus:

“Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14).

Here’s an insight that is an important self-evaluator: by God’s design, if I’m not viewed as peculiar by people who don’t know God, I’ve got some growing to do in my role as a Jesus follower. 

Measured against the model of a fallen world, Christians are weird. That’s our best condition; if we’re not recognized as bordering on the supernatural, very strange and unexpected, we have some work to do as we mature into the likeness of Christ.

How does God present Himself to people who live as if He is not alive? Here’s His historic strategy: He sent His Son to be the Word, incarnate. He gave us His Word – the Scriptures – to codify and clarify the Truth – what He calls the Good News – that will set us free. He sent His Spirit to live in the human individuals who would open themselves to Him, on His terms. And, He has sent us – those now-divinely occupied earthlings – to carry His Word to people everywhere, inviting them into an eternally redemptive relationship with Him.

Let me be the first to recognize: that last paragraph is supernatural, very strange and unexpected. It’s weird… but it’s all we’ve got:

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Here’s another BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious): I’m weird, and striving to be more weird every day. 

Care to join me?

Bob Shank