Do we over-normalise our faith?

At the end of 2016, Youth For Christ released a piece of research called ‘Gen Z: Rethinking Culture’. One of the stand out quotes from that immense work was an answer to the question, “What is your experience of Christians”. It went like this:

“They are normal like everyone else. Their faith doesn’t change them.”

Boom! This should strike hard and resonate deep. This answer – which recurred in various forms throughout the research – says that those young people who knew Christians did not see anything distinctively Christian about them. No light, no fire, no new heart, no challenge to injustice, nothing to display the radical Jesus to a desperate and needy world. The word was ‘normal.’ Ouch.

The battle for normalisation

Over the last three decades, we’ve made normalisation the battle cry of youth mission in the Church. We’ve said that Christians are coming across too weird, and too removed from the world, and the Ned Flanders stereotype needed to undergo some dramatic surgery.

There was certainly a lot of truth in this – after all, if Jesus doesn’t work in real life for real people, then He’s just not real. Dressing up our faith in legalism or overt, unnecessary quirkiness has never been helpful. A level of normalisation has been needed. However, have we gone too far?

Youth mission resources have put an inordinate amount of energy into encouraging us to show just how normal we are to young people. How we dress, what boxsets we devour, and which words we absorb into our natural vocab. We’ve moved away from questions like ‘what does Jesus expect from your life?’ to ‘is it ok for a Christian to have tattoos?’

Now were two or three generations down the line, and our church-raised teenagers are living the Christian life that we’ve recalibrated into normality for them, I wonder if we’ve gone too far. Now their mates don’t see the radical. The normalisation process looks like it may have been too successful.

Sometimes a little weird goes a long way

We know the dangers of watering down the gospel, but the normalisation of the Gospel-carriers can be just as insidious.

Don’t get me wrong. There is certainly an level of normalisation that we’ve needed to acquire. We are people of grace, not works, and Jesus came into the world to save the world, not create a weird bubble of odd, judgemental people. And for the record… I have a beard, a tattoo, and a red flannel shirt!

However, sometimes a little weird goes a very long way. As Christians there is something inherently different and radical about us – and that is supposed to show in way that can’t be normalised without being diluted.

Jesus said in this world you will have trouble (Jn. 16:33), He tells us to let our light shine high on a stand for the world to see (Mt. 5:14-16), We are in the world, but not of it (Jn. 15:19; 17:14-16). We are citizens of heaven; travellers, and just passing through this world (Eph. 2:19; Phil. 3:20). Citizens should look like where they come from right?

We should bear the traits of our citizenship

My wife is American, living in the UK. She has recently applied for naturalised British citizenship (so please pray for her!). She will be part of the UK; able to move freely, work, vote, and be afforded the rights of all British Citizens. However, she is also naturally American. That is where she is from, what she is of. She will be in Britain, but that doesn’t mean she will suddenly loose her accent or forget the words to her National Anthem. Her character and formation are still very much the Californian girl I married. I want her to live with me in the UK, but I don’t want to ‘normalise’ the American out of her.

We are in the world but not of it. We’re not from the world – we’re not products of the world – we’re of Jesus. He gave us second birth. We are born again in Him. This makes us citizens of His Kingdom. Let’s try and look a like it.

We are a little weird…

Some of the things my American wife does (like leaving the teabag in the cup) look weird in the UK. She sounds different and dresses different. She still lives here respectfully, loves people, makes friends, works, pays tax, but that doesn’t make her less who she is. We too are called to live the traits that Jesus called us to – to look like Him and bear the image of His kingdom.

We’re not meant to look like legalistic, judgemental, controversy junkies – but we are called to be a shining like in a grumpy dark place. That will be a little weird.

We’re not meant to be socks-n-sandals, bowl-cut, technophobes – but we are called to carry the name of Jesus like food to a hungry world. That will be a little weird.

We’re not meant to see the world as enemies and heathen – but we are called to love, serve, grow, proclaim, and point to Jesus. That will be a little weird.

We really need to stop telling our kids that following Jesus isn’t weird, and that it doesn’t mean a change in their lifestyle or choices. Following Jesus is a radical thing – and that will be a little weird.

The best kind of weird!