BE BOLD. BE WEIRD.

As usual this will be a post about something God is currently working on in my life. I'm pretty much just going to jump into this and be really real for a while, if that's okay with all of you. And as is usually the case, this is just as much for my benefit as it is for yours. Fasten your seat belts, this might get uncomfortable.

So, can anyone tell me where in the Word of God we find the command to "be timid and afraid?" (This is of course rhetorical, because you can't tell me in real-time if you find it. If you do find it somewhere in your Bible by chance, you should probably find a new translation....) What does the Bible have to say about fear? Well, for starters I'll use this New Testament verse from 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." Obviously, we are NOT supposed to be fearful or timid. CAPTAIN OBVIOUS STRIKES AGAIN. So what do we do when we feel afraid? REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. You are the child of the LIVING GOD. You serve the One who has authority over EVERYTHING. You are desperately loved by the King of Kings. So what if people think you're weird? Will people thinking your crazy change the fact that Jesus died on the cross for your sake? I think not. I think that making you weird is EXACTLY why he hung there. See, Jesus didn't die just to get us into heaven. He died to get HEAVEN INTO US. And just in case you didn't already know this, heaven is REALLY WEIRD. There are beings totally covered in eyes, and then there are those freaky angel things that have like 4 faces and have wheels underneath them that Ezekiel saw.

 Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:13 "If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, then it is for your benefit." If Paul has to write this to a church, it's probably because HE MIGHT SEEM CRAZY. Seeming crazy is okay people! Jesus spat in a dude's eyes so that he could see. He turned water into wine. He told a dead dude to get up, AND THE DEAD MAN DID AS HE WAS TOLD.  WEIRD. We are supposed to be holy just like he is holy! Christ is our example, our measure. In the New Peter Byers Translation I would say it like this "Be weird, just as I am weird, and don't worry about being weird, because you're supposed to be weird. If you are not weird, that's just weird, because all of my kids are weird and do weird things because they hang out with me and my weirdness gets all over them"

Do you know how many times in the Bible we can find "Be strong and courageous?" THIRTEEN TIMES. (I'm not making that up, go to biblegateway.com and search that phrase.) Let that sink in for a little bit. If God says something once, we should listen. If God says something twice, we should really pay attention. If He says something three times, He's probably trying to get something through our thick skulls. And in Joshua 1:6-9 the phrase "be strong and courageous" is used 4 times. I THINK HE MIGHT BE TRYING TO SAY SOMETHING GUYS. Jesus did not come to show us how to live and then die to give us the power to do just as he did so that we can run around being TIMID AND AFRAID. He died so that we could be in a right relationship with God just like he was, and so that we could know the perfect love of God. What does perfect love do? "Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love."  John 4:18.

What is the solution to fear? Getting really close to God so that his perfect love can get all over you and wash out all the fear. Boldness does not start as a state of being or mind, though it can become such a state once you really understand who you are in Christ. Boldness is not something you automatically step into, it takes practice. You can only ever be bold when you choose to believe that you are all God says you are, and that God is all He says He is. When you start consistently believing that and acting out of that belief you will truly be bold.

This is the challenge that I will leave you with. Be strong and courageous. Be bold. Believe that you are all He says you are and that He is all He says He is, and then act upon that belief. And so that this isn't just me preaching from my soap box and because I want to be real with you, you have the permission to check in on me and ask if I've been acting out of perfect love or not. BE BOLD. BE WEIRD.