She was having some deep emotional problems, so she sought counseling from the pastor. He, in turn, directed her to a Christian therapist trained to address such issues. So she went. The sessions went on for awhile, and then the therapist asked to see her husband. Alone with the husband, the therapist wanted to find out what kinds of emotional demands were being made at home. The husband explained things this way. "I don't really have a demand that my wife love me. I know that most people see marriage as a 50/50 proposition, but I don't. Since I am fully loved by God, I don't have to demand that my wife fulfill my need for love and I am free to love her fully. If she sees things the same, then she also is free to love me fully and we would have a 100/100 marriage. I depend on Christ to love me and it frees me to love her without demand and enjoy her love for me without reserve." The therapist was silent, stunned for a moment. Then, "That's ... crazy," she said.
The company was in trouble. Business was down and declining further. The management had shifted from a "people perspective" where their greatest asset was their workers to a "business perspective" where the bottom line was money and people didn't matter as much. The result, of course, was that the workers didn't care as much and production declined. Every year -- oddly right around Christmas time -- they had an annual layoff, so regular that employees anticipated and dreaded it. "Who's next?" Someone asked the Christian guy, "Aren't you worried about getting laid off?" He answered strangely. "Well, no, not really. You see, I don't work for them; I work for God. I figure if God wants me to have this job, they can't lay me off. And if God doesn't want me to have this job, they can't keep me. So why worry?" "Oh, man," was the reply, "that's nuts."
Paul stood in front of Festus and King Agrippa in his own defense. He told them his story, about how he sought to destroy the Christians and about how Christ met him on the road to Damascus and blinded him and spoke to him and about how he met the risen Savior there (Acts 26:1-23). Festus was not impressed. "While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, 'Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad.'" (Acts 26:24)
If you are a follower of Christ, you will find yourself commanded to be crazy ... crazy in the eyes of the world. You will not focus your attention on yourself, but on God and others. You will not find ultimate truth in Science, but in God and His Word. You will not depend on Man and what he can do for you, but in God whom they cannot see. You will find peace in hardships and joy in trials. You will have a source of power they don't comprehend. You will be marked by love for the brethren and for others. It's crazy, but it's not wrong. If, on the other hand, you find you fit in nicely, I'd suggest you may be doing something wrong. You might want to check into that for your own benefit.
2 comments:
when my brother died everyone at the funeral was wondering why i did not Cry?
it was hard to explain that i felt peace. i was also comforted by the fact that my brother was with the Lord in glory. one person asked "dont you miss him?" i said yes but only for a little while, we will be reunited with him soon enough. this did not go over well. i am sure that some thought the i was insensitive or insane. some may want to stay in this broken world, but my peace and my joy is in the anticipation that i will be going home some day.
I think of Bill Engvall's "Here's your sign" routine. In his case, it is a sign that says, "I'm stupid." Your story makes me think that we ought to have a "Crazy Christian" sign.
"I look forward to seeing my dead brother again with Jesus."
"Here's your sign."
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