Be Weird

“And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way.” (Acts 19:23)

We’ve seen this term “the Way” used to refer to Christians earlier in Acts:

“Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1-2)

We also see it in Acts 9:9 and will see it again in Acts 24:14. It is an obvious reference to Jesus being the Way (the “path” or “roadway”.)

“Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:5-6)

You know, all those are intimately interwoven: THE way, THE truth and THE life. Jesus identified Himself (I AM) in this manner. Thomas was asking for a route to take in order to get to Father God. Jesus doesn’t give him directions. Instead, Jesus gives Himself and He says “I AM the eternal never ceasing constantly flowing (ZOE) life-giving reality path. I AM the only roadway there. I’M IT…I AM all there is.”

When Jesus approached a soon-to-be disciple He didn’t give him a list of instructions. He always said that same thing: “Follow Me”.

He still does this.

“And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way.” (Acts 19:23)

“The Way” - I like that term “The way”. It’s not “a way” but THE way…the only way.

Christians were called “people of the Way” and their lifestyle was called “the Way” and the reason for this is that they lived as if Jesus was their one option. They looked different than the world did.

Christianity....as it is so often presented to the world today doesn’t look very different from the world anymore and it’s not because the world has changed to be more like Jesus. No.

We have adopted the world’s ways and have changed practices in the Body of Christ to look more and more like the world. We have taken in its business practices in the name of “easier” and more “profitable”. We’ve, as Christians, let the world’s morals and beliefs seep in, pollute us, and crowd THE Way out.

We look like the world. This is the main reason that Christianity is not appealing to the world: it already has itself. We KNOW there is a lot different about being born anew but the world can’t see that. The world can’t see past the surface.

“…the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

This is why it is SO important for us to take a stand as directed by the Father...through the Son and through the Holy Spirit. Jesus is different. He will NEVER fit in to the world and walking in the Spirit...neither will we.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” (1 Peter 2:9)

In the King James that term “special people” is translated like this: “peculiar people”. We Christians are peculiar compared to the world. The term literally means we are “beyond the usual”. Isn’t that interesting? We, as Christians, are weird!

You know, when we were teens most of us were under INCREDIBLE pressure to fit in. We were under INCREDIBLE pressure to not be unusual. As adults all of us are tempted to not seem different but this flies in the face of God’s intentions for us. We will never ever fit in again. We’re weird. We are peculiar people.

“And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way.” (Acts 19:23)

We are people of the Way.

Does this make any of us uncomfortable? It does me...at times. God is still at work in me.

One of my friends once said that one of her favorite quotes is, “This world is my workplace, not my home.” This helped keep things in perspective for her. We don’t need to fit in here; this is just our workplace.

You know, this is an article that came out of my text for a bible study but I think it is more than that. If you are reading this, the two of us are “gathering”, so to speak. We are “having church”, as it were. As always, when two or more gather in the name of Jesus, it is an opportunity to encourage one another and I want to encourage you…to be peculiar in Christ.

Be weird.

Pastor Mike McInerney

Mike McInerney Ministries, Inc.

Decatur, TX

© September 23, 2020