Christianity doesn’t make sense to the people of the world. They see religion itself as nothing more than irrational nonsense. If you can’t sense it, then it’s not real. If you can’t see it, smell it, touch it, taste it, or hear it … then it’s just made-up gobbledygook.
This attitude produces such questions as, “If God really exists, then why so much evil in the world?” Christians have an answer for that, but it doesn’t meet the approval of the world. When we talk about God’s power, inane questions surface like, “Can God make a rock so big that He Himself can’t lift it?”
The Opiate of the Masses
It was Karl Marx who called religion “the opiate of the masses.” Christians have been called “Bible-thumpers”, “Holy Rollers”, and “bitter deplorables”. Even “Christian” was originally intended as a pejorative term.
The world sees Christians as gullible people who believe anything. They have drunk the Kool-Aid and are swept up in a fairy tale that, in the end, gets them nowhere. In short, Christians are crazy.
Some Thought Jesus Was Insane
In Mark 3, Jesus is drawing crowds—huge, unmanageable crowds. He preaches, heals, and casts out demons with authority! The crowds exclaim, “We’ve never seen anything like this!” On a particular day, the house in which Jesus is teaching is so full of people that the overflow of humanity extends outside into the courtyard. It is standing room only. These people are excited about Jesus!
But there are others who are not so excited. Word of what Jesus is doing and saying has filtered back to Nazareth. Mary and her sons think it’s time to end this nonsense. “We must seize Jesus! He is clearly out of His mind!” The NASB says they believe that Jesus has “lost His senses.”
They believe Jesus is crazy. He’s a few bricks short of a load. His elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top. He’s mad as a hatter and needs to be stopped.
Upon their arrival, the family finds the house so full that they cannot gain entry. They send word through the crowd. “Master, your mother, brothers, and sisters are here to see you.”
Inwardly, Jesus thinks, “No, they're not here to see me but to seize me. They want me in a straitjacket at the Nazareth Funny Farm.”
Outwardly Jesus says, “No, my real family is right here. My mother, brother, and sisters are those who do the will of God.”
The Importance of Being With Jesus
At this point in Jesus’ ministry, the will of God is to simply be in the presence of Jesus. We learned that way back in verse 14. Mark told us that the Twelve have been called 1) to be with Jesus, 2) to preach, and 3) to cast out demons. Right now, the first one is most important. For now, they need to be with Jesus.
There is a risk in being with Jesus. Jesus is crazy! And so, those who follow Him must be crazy, too.
Maybe We Really Are Crazy
If you think about it, Christians certainly do some crazy things.
· Some Christians limit spending on themselves so they can share their means with others. That’s just crazy.
· Instead of spending their Sundays golfing, fishing, or shopping, Christians gather in song and prayer while metaphorically eating and drinking the body and blood of the historical figure they claim to follow. That’s just crazy.
· Christians don’t use profanity or get drunk or do drugs. They don’t have indiscriminate sex. Come on, man! That’s just crazy!
· When the circumstances of life fall all over them, Christians walk around with a smile on their face saying stupid stuff like, “Count it all joy when facing trials of various kinds.” That’s crazy talk!
We look crazy to the people of the world.
But that’s okay. We’re in good company. They called Him crazy, too.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).