Tuesday, October 30, 2007

• God is Socially Awkward

  Currently Listening Overdressed By Caedmon's Call see related

  Recently in my Pastoral Counseling class we talked about how when people break social norms other people don’t feel safe around them. No, not that they think the weird little, socially awkward guy is going to go postal on someone. It’s just that when someone repeatedly doesn’t ‘get it’ when it comes to social practices we often feel unsafe in divulging ourselves to this person. After all, if they care so little for social rules, why would they care any more about what is in my heart – which is communicated through social practices?

   

  Sometimes I feel that way about God. At times it seems like he’s that socially awkward guy standing in the corner at the Middle School homecoming dance. You know, he’s that guy, the one who can’t talk to girls. The guy who when you’ve tried to talk to him the only response you get is 20 seconds of awkward silence until finally you give up and go talk to someone else. And often when he does answer you, it’s well after you’ve gone onto a different subject or he interrupts when you’ve finally got up the nerve to talk to the girl of your dreams.

   

  On top of all that, because God is socially awkward he requires that I be socially awkward if I want to be friends with him. Yep, he’s that guy too. Not only does he not respond in ways I want him to, he wants me to respond to the rest of the world in ways that will get me killed. What am I to do if someone wants my cloak? Give them my tunic as well! This means, folks, he wants me to stand there naked showing off all my 'glory' to a world full of people who hated me already and are going to think I’m crazy now! Awkward anyone? Yep, this is the requirement to be ‘sons and daughters of your Father in heaven.’

   

  Or sometimes I feel like the Bible, the handbook of this socially awkward guy, is like the drunk uncle of Evangelicalism. We all acknowledge that he’s part of the family, but none of us really wants to know what he has to say because he might tell us some crazy freaking story again. We’re all afraid he’s going to retell us that story of the wild bear devouring a couple of children for making fun of the prophet’s male pattern baldness. We’re all worried he’s going to tell us, again, of the prophet who laid siege to a brick, or laid naked on each side for 3 and a half years. Or worse, we’re afraid he’s going to tell us the story, again, of how Jesus died on a Roman cross as a worthless sinner, under a curse, and rejected by the ones he came to love. As I said, drunk uncle.

   

  But really, what are we to do with this Guy? We’re not just talking about some crazy little nerd bothering us, we’re talking about the God of the universe. A God who has called us to be odd, distinct, peculiar, other because He is odd, distinct, and Other. It would be easy if we could just ignore Him. But He won’t go away. We could be mean to Him…wait, I suppose we already were and yet while we still sinners Christ died for us. Maybe we could ignore Him. But then the rocks will cry out and the heavens sing ever louder.

   

  Essentially it seems there’s no escaping Him. I suppose I love Him too much to desire to escape Him anyway. But I often don’t know what to do with Him. He wants me to be weird. I grew up weird and I thought I grew out of it. Now He wants me to live in it forever. He wants me to be poor. I grew up poor and I always promised myself I wouldn’t be poor when “I grow up.” Now He wants me to give everything away. I guess me and Jesus are just going to be wallflowers at the homecoming dance. But I would rather be there with Him, the socially awkward Guy, than in the middle of what everyone else thinks is cool. The “Drunk Uncle” has more to contribute to true humanity than all the humanists who’ve ever lived. Luther said, “Love Him? Sometimes I hate Him!” Sometimes I can relate.  

   

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