Please, I want to be Peculiar

pe·cu·liar   [pi-kyool-yer]
–adjective
1. uncommon; unusual; strange; odd
2. distinctive in nature or character from others.
3. belonging characteristically (usually fol. by to )
4. belonging exclusively to some person, group, or thing

I have been thinking a lot about 1 Peter 2:9 and I wanted to blog about it for a while. I went on to Google and tried to find an image that I could pull to use for a blog post. THIS image came up from WhatisPeculiar.com. I LOVE this message!! The site doesn't seem to be active, but I love the message, I love the desire to reach a generation that does not look boring. JESUS IS NOT BORING. I love that it embraces culture and works in it and not away from it.

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a CHOSEN RACE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD'S OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light

I have this vision and this passion for this "new" Christianity. This new generation of Christians who are going to love Jesus and show Jesus in a way that we haven't seen in a while. I feel like there needs to be a revival in the Church across the board. There shouldn't be a battle between denominations--Christians need to portray God's love and His image in all circumstances to all people. We should WANT to be different and WANT to stand out.

I WANT TO BE PECULIAR. I don't want to make sense to people. I want them to ask me, "What the heck is wrong with you?!" Haha!! Because I am NOT just like you. I am NOT your Average Jane. I am part of something so much better than I am alone. I am a part of a people who are called to be set apart. I am so much more because of Jesus' love for me.

However, I digress. Haha. The reason I wanted to focus on 1 Peter 2:9 is because of what I have realized about myself in recent weeks and I love it.

I am hungry for a sense of community in Christianity. When you look at the church and see bickering, boredom, mundane routine, etc. I have mentioned it a lot in conversations with Laura in the past few weeks about how I want to focus on bringing a community of Christians together to work together in changing Vicenza. I want everyone to come together as a Christian community to get people to ask, "What? What just happened?"

How do we make Christianity look appealing!?
We live VICTORIOUSLY in LOVE!!

WE are a chosen race, a royal priesthod, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession so that we can proclaim His excellencies. I want people to want to be part of the team. So we live together and work together in peace and love towards spiritual maturity and we show them that it's not about what service you go to. It's not about how many good deeds you can do. It's not based on how many services you've gone to. Or how many verses you've memorized. It is about loving your neighbor as GOD HAS LOVED US.

It is understanding God's will for His people. We are here to proclaim His excellencies, to show the line between darkness and light and we need to do it together. (Because it's plural, hahah, Tom Job said, "All y'all.")

So I am challenging you all to look at how you live together. How do you interact? Does that reflect what God will have us do? Or are we giving people a reason not to want to be a part of the team? Do we make Christianity look appealing? Or do we make it look boring? Do we make it look ordinary? What does the Church look like to you? How should it look to you? What do you want from your peers? What do you want from your elders? Pastors?

We have to STOP giving people a reason to reject Jesus.
If we acted the way we are supposed to--people would not use us as an excuse not to follow Him. If we acted the way we were supposed to people who reject Christianity are rejecting God--and cannot hide behind any excuse, but that they just don't believe.


(&& after I wrote all of this, I went to YouTube and searched 1 Peter 2:9, and look who came up?? FRANCIS CHAN!)

HAHAH, that is a hilarious moment to freeze.