Go Ahead, Call Me Crazy
“Have I gone mad?” asked the Hatter with a voice filled with fright, and eyes searching Alice’s face, frantic for an answer.
Placing her hand upon his forehead as if checking for a fever, she responded, “I’m afraid so. You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”
If you have seen Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland adaptation, you will probably be familiar with this dialogue. Although not in the original book published in 1865 by Lewis Carroll, Alice speaks a solid truth you and I as Christ followers should take note of. Let me give you another piece of dialogue to help you understand.
Staring at Paul in wonder at everything he just heard, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “Paul, you are mad! Your great learning is driving you insane!”
“I am not mad, most noble Festus,” Paul replied. “But I am uttering the straight, sound truth.”
We find this snippet of conversation in Acts 26, verses 24 and 25. The Jewish leadership was seeking Paul’s life for preaching the gospel. Paul was presenting his defense before the current sitting king of Jerusalem, King Agrippa and the Roman governor Festus. This was directly before Paul was to be sent to Rome, to stand trial before Caesar.
Paul’s passion and sincerity in speech, combined with the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ, lead to the Roman governor’s outburst. Was the story Paul told too much for Festus to wrap his mind around? Maybe, he was feeling a sense of conviction? Perhaps.
We see later in the passage, King Agrippa accuses Paul of trying to convince him to place his faith and trust in Christ for salvation, so we know the Spirit of the Lord was moving in Paul’s words and declaration of Jesus as the Savior of the world.
Let’s look at another conversation, which I think adds even more depth to today’s topic.
Jesus looked around the table at the faces of the eleven men he had spent the last three and half years with. It was coming to the end of His time, and He longed to pour every last bit of wisdom, comfort and warning out to His disciples, while He still had a few minutes more.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
This world will think we are mad, crazy, unintelligent, bigots, close minded, foolish; the list is lengthy, ending in hatred. Jesus’ conversation with his disciples on the night of the Last Supper (or Passover), is shared with us starting in John 13:31 and continues through the end of chapter 17. In John 15:18-19, our Lord was letting these men know, and ultimately us know, the world will not understand you, to the point of utter rejection.
Are you beginning to see a pattern? How about one more?
“The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the scriptures say,
‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.’ (referencing Isaiah 29:14)
So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in His wisdom saw to it that the world would never know Him though human wisdom, He has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
Paul reminds the church in Corinth, we will look utterly ridiculous to those who are still wondering around in the darkness. They do not understand what they cannot see, and will reject, mock and shame the ones who can see it.
Those who are still chained to the depravity of this current age, cannot see beyond their dimly lit prison cell. When the Light of truth enters, they react one of two ways:
Cover their eyes and look away, wishing to get away from and rejecting the radiance.
or
Bask in the warmth of the illumination, suddenly realizing they have been freezing their whole life, slowly dying from frost bite, but completely ignorant of the truth.
Think back to the time in your life before you decided to follow Jesus. Can you remember meeting some “Jesus Freak” and not understanding where they were coming from? Maybe you felt pity over their misguided notions of needing a Savior, or shook your head in destain, because they needed a religious “crutch” to get through life, and you found them weak.
I know I had those moments in my life. Then the day came, when I allowed the Light to warm my soul and change me from the inside out. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. Dark shadows, lurking around the corners of my heart, were made to flee.
Immense, weighty burdens lifted off my chest, and for the first time in years I could catch a full, deep breath. Peace, let’s talk about the peace! That beautiful calm, which washed over me, and suddenly I knew everything was going to be different- in a good way.
But here’s the thing, you don’t know the pain, regret, anxiety, fear, condemnation, insecurity, anger and a million other things that weigh us down, are not normal, until they are removed and you can feel the difference. You can experience the change. Prior to Jesus, I thought, “Well, this is just who I am and how it’s going to be.”
Sometimes, those who call you foolish, are simply numb from exposure to their sin, and they don’t know anything different. Keep explaining the truth and showing them the love of Christ. One day they will open up and let the Light in.
There are some out there; however, who don’t believe they need a life transformation. These tend to be the worst offenders when it comes to name calling. I mean, if you already have everything under control in your mind, why would you listen to the nut job who is trying to tell you, you’re a sinner in need of a Savior? Jesus dealt with this often from the Pharisees and Sadducees. If you recall, He said, “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but only those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners [who recognize their sin and humbly seek forgiveness.”] (Mark 2:17, amp)
Do we give up on these, shake the dust off our feet and move on? Maybe. Jesus told His disciples to do this when the gospel was preached, but not received, in any town they went to. (Matthew 10:14, Mark 6:11, and Luke 9:5) If they continue to get increasingly hostile, you have the right to set a boundary, but continue to pray and represent Christ well in your actions. You never know when you might be dealing with a Saul, who one day will become Paul, because of your witness.
So what does your life say to the rest of this world? Your co-workers? Family members? Neighbors? If you were to stand trial for your faith, as Paul did in Rome, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Would they call you insane?
The challenge for you this week is to assess your Christian walk, and see if you have been bold with the gospel message in your sphere of influence. If you are, there is probably a good chance, you have one or two individuals who don’t care for you very much, or think you are ridiculous for your beliefs.
Count it all joy friends, if you are to suffer for Christ in such a way. What can they do to you? As Steffany Gretzinger would say, “They can’t turn off a Light that is on the inside.”
So, let them talk!
Let them call you crazy!
Who cares if they think you’re mad? I agree with Alice, those are the best kind of people anyway.