Christians are weird.

We have weird vocabulary (“Hey, wanna come to the wedding supper of the lamb with me? I’m wearing my robe of righteousness!”) and weird stories (worldwide flood, bullying giants, belly o’ the whale, life after death, etc.).

You know what else is weird? Talking in King-James-ese and answering every question with a Bible verse. Walking someone down the Roman Road before you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. Inviting someone to church before you’ve even invited them into a conversation.

Now that’s weird!

Let’s keep on being weird, but let’s do it for all the right reasons. We can’t/won’t/shouldn’t give up our sacred beliefs. Let’s save the thee’s and thou’s for Sunday, and just say, “Hey, how’s it going?” on the street corner. Let’s understand someone’s pain before we wield the sword of Scripture on ’em. Let’s be honest about everything from our bad hair days to our bad mistakes.

The whole point of what we’re urging is simply love—love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God. Those who fail to keep to this point soon wander off into cul-de-sacs of gossip. They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven’t the remotest idea of what they’re holding forth with such imposing eloquence.

It’s true that moral guidance and counsel need to be given, but the way you say it and to whom you say it are as important as what you say.

1 Timothy 1:5-8 The Message

Simple love. Sincere faith. Being yourself. Knowing that the way we speak and to whom we speak are as important as what we say. Wow. That’s really weird.

Hostess Covenant

We’ve developed a Hostess Covenant that doesn’t make you un-weird, but it does keep you on track spiritually and Scripturally as you step out into your neighborhood. Click here to download the Hostess Covenant from our Freebies page. It will help you personalize and pray over verses from Paul’s pastoral letters, instructions he wrote for people just like you who were trying to bring faith to their neighborhoods.