Be Unconventional
Some people resist the idea of following Jesus because they think that it will turn them into copies of Christians they’ve known. That is truly unfortunate because Jesus was a unique individual and He calls His followers to be like Him in this as well as other things.
Jesus was unconventional in His approach to life. He stood out. He didn’t hesitate to confront people, even leaders, when they needed it. In Mark 12, we read about Jesus telling a very pointed story directed against the priests and other religious leaders. They knew that they were the targets of His barbed comments and wanted to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the common people who had adopted Jesus as their champion. So the priests backed down and let Him get away, though they sent some of their henchmen to try to find something incriminating in His teaching.
Another way in which Jesus was unconventional was that he associated with the underclass. In Matthew 9 we read: “Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees (who were members of another class of religious leaders) saw it, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’” They couldn’t understand why Jesus hung out with the riffraff. They were all social climbers (like many of us today). They were only interested in connecting with people who could give them some social advantage, but here was Jesus befriending people who had so little social standing that they sold themselves, the women as prostitutes, the men as agents of pagan Rome.
Jesus words and actions more often raised questions than gave answers. Jesus didn’t follow the traditions of His cultural context. His desire - His only desire - was to serve His Father. It didn’t bother Him that the religious upper-crust was questioning why He didn’t make His disciples live according to the tradition of the elders. That’s what they did, and they couldn’t understand why Jesus didn’t.
On more than one occasion, the disciples had to approach Jesus to ask for clarification about what He was teaching in public. They were the closest to Him. They lived and worked daily with Him, but His teachings were so unusual that they had to ask Him what His point was.
Even as He faced crucifixion for our sin, Pilate, who was judging Him, was amazed that He wouldn’t try to defend Himself in court and asked Him why He wouldn’t give testimony in His own defence. When Jesus wouldn’t answer this second level question, the Bible records that Pilate marvelled. He was stunned, amazed, dumbfounded. He’d never seen such a thing.
As we seek to be like Jesus, we will find ourselves standing out from those around us. When Jesus’ values and purpose become our own, we, too, will seem unconventional to those who are locked into following human traditions. Jesus calls us to be free of the petty priorities of those around us to follow Him into life.
