But the division between strange and normal is, at best, very subjective, at its very worst it is a self-serving judgement and condemnation of those who are different. However it really has nothing to do with strange ("them") versus normal ("us"). BUT it has everything to do with "what makes us tick". And what makes us tick makes us neither strange nor normal, it makes us ... UNIQUE! What makes ME "tick" is an ONGOING lifetime of experiences, opportunities, frustrations, relationships, health and illness, ability and disability,etc. If you have a spare lifetime or two to share I might be able to explain it all (after I manage to sort it all out myself). In the meantime I just ask that you accept that what makes me "tick" is not likely to bear too much resemblance to what makes you "tick". BUT it is what makes me "me" and you "you", and not just a cloned copy of me (or vice-versa).
Even Christians sometimes have trouble getting their head around the idea of "uniqueness". Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12 makes it clear that being a Christian is not about everybody being the same, but of being of the same body, because even back then many Christians could not quite grasp the concept that when you bind something that is unique (each of us) with something that is the same (the ONE Holy Spirit) you don't get something that is the same, you still get something that is unique ... but which is united by a sameness, just as (as Paul illustrated) there is one body but many different and unique members of that one body. Diverse in function and purpose and a myriad other ways, but bound by a sameness of body and Spirit. Each indwelling of the Holy Spirit produces, not a clone of itself but a unique combination of man and God. The diversity of man united by the sameness of the Lord.
A mathematician might explain it like this:-
AB + AC + AD
Does not equal 3A + B + C + D (three individuals with three versions of God)
Nor does it equal 3A's or 3B's or 3C's or 3D's (identical clones)
It ACTUALLY (mathematically too I might add) equals A(B+C+D) (a combination of unique individuals multiplied by a unique God.)
NOBODY gets lost or abandoned ... or devalued ... in the equation. I am neither YOU nor GOD, I am a unique and valid combination of me and God just as much as you are a unique and valid combination of you and God.
BUT it is easier and less complicated to just pass judgement on a life than to share a life. There is an old indian saying that before you judge another you should walk a mile in their moccasins. But Jesus simply says DO NOT judge others. (Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37) And if they asked you to walk a mile with them walk two.(Matthew 5:41) And if you asked Jesus how many times you should do it I think it is more than likely that He might say even up to seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21,22).
The irony is that we are most often condemned by those who know us least and forgiven (should we seek it and repent) by the one who knows us best.
But what is it that enables people from all over the world and throughout history, of diverse cultures, languages, nationalities, socio-economic groupings, abilities (and disabilities), natures, jobs, intellectual strengths, interests, idiosyncrasies, etc. to not only join together, worship together, and work together, but also to share life together and be of one accord? What is it that makes the body of Christ tick?
It is this:-
Greater is He that unites us than the differences that seek to divide us.
D.J. Ludlow
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