Awkward

                This post has the potential of offending approximately 11% of everyone who may read it. The great fountain of reliable knowledge known as Wikipedia informed me of this possibility when it said that roughly 11% of all people are left-handed.

            I have a confession to make and I apologize in advance. I don’t like watching left handed people write, play guitar, throw a baseball or do anything with their left hand. It just makes me feel awkward. Whew, there, I said it.

            Now don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against left-handed people nor do I think that they are wrong for not being “right.” They just make me feel awkward and if there is one thing I know a lot about, it is being awkward. I am 6’3, weigh 150 pounds and trip over my own feet almost daily- I know awkward. Even the word "awkward" is awkward- I mean what other word has a K sandwiched between two double Us? 

            We have a saying on the team that something is only awkward if you make it awkward. This doesn’t usually work for me because I seem to, by my very nature, make most things awkward. I would hate to see what it would look like if I was left-handed.

                I got to thinking how rough it is for left-handed people in a right-handed world. Every time they turn a door knob, use a spiral notebook, or change gears while driving they are reminded of the fact that everyone else in the world thinks differently than they do.

            Somewhere down the line, left-handers got a bad reputation. The English word “sinister” comes from the Latin word “sinistra” which could be translated “evil, broken, or left side.” That is kind of harsh when you think about it. Most cultures of the world have seen this 11% minority as something either to be feared or fixed. The bottom line is that right- handed people have no comprehension of left-handed people.

            We as Christians are left-handed people in a right-handed world. We see things from a completely different side of the brain than the rest of the world is seeing through and we wonder why they are always disagreeing with us. We get accused of so much because they don’t understand why we do the things we do when it all makes perfect sense to us.  

            Ever look at a politician and be completely confused as to what they are thinking? Ever try and share your faith with a family member and get so frustrated that they can’t see what is so obviously right in front of them? Ever try to explain to someone why you don’t want to watch a certain movie or listen to a certain song that love and find nothing wrong with?

            It is because you have the “mind of Christ,”₁ and they don’t. When Paul said that we have the mind of Christ, he was explaining why nobody understands us and thinks we are weird. It is why the world thinks we are awkward.

            It is why it can be so hard living in this world with instincts so contrary to what everyone else is doing. This world is not our home and I think sometimes we forget that. We aren’t supposed to be comfortable here because we have our eyes set on a “city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”₂ This world is not our home.

            If the world understands everything we do, we probably aren’t doing everything right. How could they understand why you would choose to forgive and love your abusive parent or the co-worker who spread false rumors about you? How could they understand why you would help a stranger out when you can’t afford to pay your own rent? Why would you skip lunch to read your Bible? Why would you get on your face and pray for your president instead of just complaining about him like everyone else?

            I think it is about time we as Christians embrace our awkwardness. We need to look different than everybody else. When something awkward happens, nobody knows what to do. All defenses are gone and everyone is looking for an explanation. We can never explain the hope that we have to someone who has never seen it in us and thinks that we are exactly the same as them.

            Let everything about your daily life remind you that you do not belong to the rest of the world. You don’t think like everybody else. You don’t do the things everybody else does. You are unashamed to be considered awkward because you are a follower of Jesus Christ. Don’t make yourself a righty just to fit in.

            What are some things you personally can do to remind the world (and yourself) that you are different? Let me know what you come up with.

_{1-1 Cor. 2:16 NIV, 2- Heb. 11:10 NIV}