A friend of mine who is not a Christian thinks that church is for lemmings. Remember those little critters that mindlessly follow the group over a cliff to their death in the sea. He thinks that people who go to church don’t know how to think for themselves. They have to let a pastor think for them. (What a funny concept, in Chapel Hill, of all places.)
Recently, when we were with some other friends and the subject of my church came up, my friend instantly went into a robot imitation. A little twist on his view. At least lemmings are alive.
It is surprising that anyone could think that a group having something to do with Jesus could ever be about conformity. I guess from the outside churches could look like they are trying to put everyone in a certain moral, political, conservative box.
The thing is, what is most striking about Jesus is what a non-conformist he was. We will see an example of that this Sunday when we see Jesus interact with someone, whom by all standards he had no business talking to. Mark 1:29-45 (And it wasn’t as easy as you might think.)
What gives someone the confidence to defy the rules? How can a person be that free? What can trump our self-conscious, approval-seeking, pressurized way of living?
We get some clues this Sunday.