God's Oddball Children

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

                                                                   - I John 3:1-3

How clearly I remember, as a teen, how incredibly important it was to "fit in."  I worked hard at dressing "right," listening to the "right" music, using the "right" language, getting the "right" hair - in an all-encompassing attempt to find acceptance among my peers.  Early in my career as a junior high student I learned painful lessons in the social costs of "standing out."  Kids at that age can be pretty vicious.

I think kids react in a couple of ways to teenage peer pressure.  Some, like I did, work hard at blending in with the crowd.  Others rebel against the pressure to conform, and also work hard - at finding ways to be "different."  Most often this actually means becoming part of yet another subculture - the ones who "rebel together."  Never quite comfortable with being a complete solo act, they gravitate toward other kids who are the "fringe" element, maybe the ones most often grumbled about in the teachers' lounge, or found hanging out consistently in the principal's office (do they still send behavior problems there?).

How that all plays out in adulthood has probably been the subject of many a doctoral dissertation or masters thesis; beats me, I can only conjecture.  But I think the concern for social conformity stays with us, to a degree, all our lives.  One thing for sure is that the society in which we find ourselves today increasingly pushes back against those who pursue conformity to Jesus and His kingdom.  The world, frankly, does not "get" those who are the ones the Father calls His true children.

But then, according to the Apostle John, it never did, because it doesn't "get" Jesus.

He urges us to make peace with the fact that we are not like the world, and are becoming even more unlike it.  Christians - those in whom the Spirit of God is doing a transforming work - need to realize that to grow in Christlikeness is to become more of a social anomaly.  Rather than resist being something of an "oddball," John urges us to lean into it, to cooperate with the Spirit, to move steadily toward Christ - keeping our eyes fixed on the hope of becoming completely like Him - a hope that will be realized on the day He returns to collect His own.  In that day, the day faith becomes sight, God promises our transformation - our conformity to the only One who matters - will be complete.  

And somehow, I don't think it will be a big deal whether we have the "right" hair.