Michael Card wrote a song called, "God's own fool" that begins with the lyrics,
Seems I've imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God's holy wisdom is foolish to men
He must have seemed out of His mind
For even His family said He was mad
And the priests said a demon's to blame
But God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane
It is worth remembering that Jesus' teachings are coming from the perspective of God. We read them, understand them and have a desire to follow them only because the Spirit of God lives in us. He enables us to see. Without him, we would be blind.
Jesus' teaching was not understood or accepted by many people who heard him. If the world did not understand him, what makes us think they will understand us?
So we should not be surprised when we seem "out of our minds" to the people around us. We will never seem logical, in fact perhaps we should be worried when the church makes too much sense to the world.
In John 6 Jesus said,
"The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them."
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:64-69 (NIV)
Even for us who believe, it can be difficult sometimes to understand. But as Peter said, where else can we go?
