Weird is a relative term. We all have likes or dislikes or tendencies that others might consider weird. Some people think what we’re doing is weird—creating a campaign focused on the humanity of Jesus—a man who became the world’s most prominent religious figure. But as we read about Jesus, we cannot help but appreciate how often he made room for the outcast, the despised, and those people that most of society deemed “weird.”
His inner circle of disciples, for example, were not religious scholars but blue-collar workers, fishermen, former corrupt bureaucrats, and reformed violent zealots. It was a weird crew to start a love movement, to be sure.
And there was this story about a corrupt tax man named Zacchaeus. He was reviled by his own people. A corrupt tax collector working for the foreign occupying force of the Roman Empire, he made himself wealthy by extorting and overtaxing his countrymen. Oh … and he was really short.
By the time they’d crossed paths, Jesus had developed significant notoriety as a healer and a teacher. Crowds would follow him everywhere he went. When the crowd passed his way, Zacchaeus was curious to see what all the fuss was about, so he climbed a tree to see over the crowd of average-sized onlookers towering over him. And of all the people Jesus passed by, and of all the people who were following him down the path, Jesus only stopped for the odd short man that nobody liked sitting up in a tree.
Weird. But powerful. They spent time alone in his house, and their brief visit together changed Zacchaeus’ life. He gave back all the money (and some) he’d extorted from his fellow oppressed citizens. People marveled at how a visit with this teacher of love forever changed that weird little person.
And we were also enamored with the story of Mary Magdalene—one of the earliest and most devoted followers of Jesus. As his movement grew, she remained a steadfast member of his inner circle, but the Bible records her history as one who was demon-possessed. Tradition ascribed even more labels to her and her past, from being a prostitute and more. My guess is she had a host of challenges, and we don’t know all of them, but she certainly didn’t fit the mold most people would assume characterizes a devout, loving follower of Jesus. But Jesus welcomed her with open arms, helped her overcome her issues, and gave her an important role in his movement. It was one of the many instances where people dealing with spiritual, mental, and emotional disorders—even people with a questionable past—were not just cared for, but included in Jesus’ community in meaningful ways.
Jesus welcomed the weird, loved the weird, and built a movement full of weirdos that ended up changing the world. The example reminds us that every person has incredible value, and their story and their identity, no matter how strange, are beautiful and important.
