Why Weird Is Wonderful (Seriously)

No one is truly normal. Everyone has quirks. Everybody has something somewhere in their past or present that makes them atypical. Think about it; just the fact that we all are incredibly unique makes us anything but normal. 

If you define normal as “just like me,” then you have a problem because nobody is just like you. You are one in a billion (more like eight billion).

I’m sitting at Starbucks in Portland, Oregon, sipping my Americano and watching people. Weird people. Lots of them. Of course, this city prides itself on being weird. It’s not unusual to see bumper stickers that read, “Keep Portland Weird.” 

And they are succeeding. Enormously.

A guy just came in dressed entirely in yellow—yellow shoes, shorts, a yellow shirt topped off with a yellow hat. And I don’t mean a soft, pastel yellow. It was a bright, bold, in-your-face-put-your-sunglasses-back-on yellow. (I had to resist asking him what color his briefs were.)

I am also spending time with my extended family while here in the City of Roses. And my fam is full of unusual people—lots of them. There are old people, young people, conservative FOX news enthusiasts, liberal pot-smokers, dog lovers and dog haters, people who make desserts for a living, and people who make planes, and every one of us is far from normal. 

Me included.

If you insist you’re normal, let me ask: Who gets to determine normal?

I’ve been all over the world, and trust me, “normal” in North America is not normal in Africa or Asia. Yes, we have things in common with a villager in Guatemala (i.e., we all need food, water or coffee, air, human contact, etc.). Still, Guatemalans are not the same as Oregonians. 

We are all peculiar, unusual, and special in some way. We are different and not all the same. Luc Sante asks and answers an important question, “Are you a unique individual? What a stupid question!”

Of course, weird is wonderful and you are different, and it’s okay.

Perhaps normal is a word used by boring people to make themselves feel better.

To be clear, I’m not condoning weird or unbiblical behavior. One of the things I love about the Word of God is it is cross-cultural and cross-generational. A sin (as defined by the Scriptures) in Shanghai is a sin in Portland. But I am suggesting that some of us need to get off our arrogant, self-erected pedestals of superiority.

• Every family has its measure of dysfunctionality, so stop looking down on others. Recently, my friend and author of The Shack, Paul Young, said in a podcast, “All families are dysfunctional at some level.”

• Every person has their broken parts. Some are just better at hiding their cracks.

• Everyone is a little weird, and if you don’t think that includes you, then you are wrong.

I suggest that if weird is normal, and it is, then that means that if you are normal, you are weird. So, to be normal, you must be weird, which makes you normal all over again, which is weird. (I bet you had to read that twice.) It is a perpetual cycle.

I love this quote by fellow Patheos columnist John Mark Reynolds, “When all the weirdness is gone, there is death.” Maybe it’s time to embrace who we are and truly love one another. 

My column is a bit of a travel guide for people doing life and relationships. That said, you don’t have to love and accept everyone’s unholy choices unconditionally, but you must unconditionally love everyone, even the weird ones.

We must embrace the people around us, even the ones dressed in neon yellow.

Jesus does.

“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you…”

Romans 15:7 (NIV)

You can find out more about Kurt Bubna and his writing on Twitter and Facebook. You can read more about his views and insights, both in his books and on his website.