How Odd

An Inkling

Yes, we're odd.  We admit it.  We get excited about worship.  We talk about the presence of the Holy Spirit as if we really believed he were here.  We sing as if God himself were our audi­ence.  Tears come to our eyes as if we really had met Jesus.  How odd.

There's no denying it:  we're odd.  Our membership standards create no aura of exclusivity.  Wealthy, well-connected, beautiful people are welcome here.  But they're no more welcome than are the unemployed, addicts, and ex-cons.  That's because our only membership standard is repentant faith in Jesus Christ.  How odd.

We're odd:  we give money away.  All around us people are concerned (including us) about the shaky economy.  And yet when it comes to our family of faith, we're looking for ways to give more away, both as individuals and as a church.  As a church we're seeking to manage so well the parts of our budget that go toward what we can see (the physical plant, etc) that we can put more and more toward mission and ministry (results of which we often cannot see).  How odd.

Our oddity extends yet further:  we are people of commit­ment.  In a day of radical individualism, a day when people avoid most commitments and break the commitments they find inconvenient, we make commitments, and by God's grace, keep them.  We know no love but love with commitment.  How odd.

How odd?  We're a bit odd, and becoming odder.  That's because Jesus is very odd, and we're becoming like him.  Those who know him won't find that so odd.  Indeed...

The odds are in our favor,

Keith