Christians Might Be Crazy

“Yeah, Christians might be crazy.” That was my honest answer to the guy who asked if I had considered I might be nuttier than a Planters factory. I had just finished preaching that God had become man, was born of a virgin, lived without sin, cast out demons, healed the sick, waterskied without a boat, died on a cross for the world’s sins, rose three days later, ate breakfast, hung out for 40 days, and ascended to heaven still a virgin to take his throne and rule over creation until he returns to judge the living and the dead.

The guy was new to church. I had spent an hour highlighting the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But this non-Christian felt like he had wandered into a lecture at the Flat Earth Society.

I have preached almost every week for over two decades, starting when I was a new Christian in my early twenties. I have spent most of my adult life studying the Bible. Along the way I got a graduate degree in how to accurately read, understand, and apply its text. Like most Christians, I sometimes get so familiar with our Book that I forget how downright crazy it sounds to outsiders. This guy and I did not agree on whether or not the Bible was true, but we did agree it sounds odd if you stop to think about it. As he processed the sermon, he doubled back to make sure he heard me right:

“If there is a God living in heaven, why would he come down here to work some dead end job?”
“Virgins don’t have babies.”
“Nobody is perfect. How could anyone conclude that about Jesus?”
“How in the world can some guy just do miracles?”
“So all our sin got hung on Jesus?”
“Dead people don’t come back unless it’s in some crazy zombie horror film.”
“You think I’m going to hell to burn forever?”

After he unloaded those thoughts, there was a silence like an awkward elevator ride. The look on his face was exactly what you would expect if I had told him I was a taco.

My first instinct was to spin my message to make the Bible more reasonable. But I had preached what I actually think. I should just own it.

“That’s what I believe,” I said.

“Did you ever consider that you might be crazy?” he politely replied.

“Yeah, Christians might be crazy.”