How "Holy Oddballs" Dress

Recently my mind wandered back to sixth grade (which feels like a century ago).

That was the year school suddenly clicked for me. Until then I’d been an average student, but something changed when I walked into Mrs. V.’s classroom.

Every Monday morning the chalkboard held the entire week: assignments, due dates, tests, pages to be read — all clearly written out. We knew exactly what was expected in order to succeed.

And I loved it!

That year, I learned I thrive on predictability. Give me a clear goal and I’ll aim for it. From the moment I sat down on Monday, I got busy. I worked ahead whenever I could and usually finished everything by Wednesday (have I mentioned I tend to be an overachiever?). My grades rose accordingly.

The lesson I learned that year was simple:
Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.

I still like checklists. Rubrics. Calendars. Plans.
Write the to-do list on the chalkboard of my life and I’ll go after it.

Which brings me to living as a “holy oddball.”

Lately I’ve found myself wanting the apostle Peter to just give me the bottom line of his instructions:

Tell me what I have to do to live successfully as a social misfit for Christ and I'm all over it.

So, I sat down and filtered the rest of his letter through one statement in 1 Peter 1:13:

 Prepare your minds for action.

After wading through all his instructions — live holy, live reverently, live obediently, love deeply, cling to truth — it finally dawned on me:

Peter’s list is actually one line long, three simple words.

Put on Jesus.

Or to say it another way: imitate Jesus.

Paul says the same thing: 

Imitate me, as I imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). 

Be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1).

If Peter were writing on the chalkboard of our lives, he wouldn’t need paragraphs. Just one command:

MIMIC JESUS

The Greek word is mimetes — where we get the word mime.
To copy the actions of another so closely that their life becomes the pattern for yours.

And imitation isn’t passive. It assumes an active relationship.
You watch closely enough that you begin to think like them, respond like them, value what they value. It’s spending enough time with them that you live as close to their heart as humanly possible…

Which means Christian maturity isn’t mastering a spiritual checklist.

It’s knowing Christ well enough that, over time, His reflexes become yours.

So the goal isn’t memorizing more rules (that’s just legalism).

It’s walking so closely with Jesus that when life presses in, your first response begins to look like His (that’s love).

And, that’s the path of the holy oddball.

Is it a commitment you’ve made — not just to believe in Him, but to become like Him?

It’s exactly what Jesus asked of his disciples when He called them - and they knew it was an invitation to discipleship:

Come, follow Me.

(Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:17, John 1:43, Matthew 9:9)

Their response? ...and, immediately they -- left their nets, their boats, a lucrative tax collector's job, and some even left other mentors -- and followed Him -- in order to become like Him -- to "put on Jesus."

How do holy oddballs dress? They put on Jesus.