IT’S SO UNNATURAL
INTRODUCTION: Unnatural is defined as something contrary to habit, custom or practice. It is described as not conforming to that which is conventional. Synonyms for unnatural include: abnormal, strange, uncommon, supernatural, inexplicable and extraordinary. These are the some of the descriptions that make up what we are in Christ. We need to be unnatural in a natural world. Why is it necessary and how we can do it?
1) Jesus was unnatural. Jesus was unconventional in the way he did things.
• The way he taught. Matt. 7:28-29. The way the Rabbis of the day taught was humanistic and traditional. The way Jesus taught was divine and unnatural and the people were amazed. Matt. 22:23-33. The religious sect the Sadducees thought they were going to trip Jesus up. They used Deut. 25:5-6 as a basis for their argument regarding marriage in heaven. Although the argument may have trapped most, it didn’t trap Jesus. He put them in their place, highlighting their lack of understanding. The crowds were astonished; they had never seen anything like it.
• The way he acted. Matt. 9:9-13. It was unconventional, unnatural for a teacher to be seen sharing a meal with “sinners”. Jesus put them in their place, showing it was this unnatural behavior which was the better thing. Jesus acted unnaturally around women as well. When he ministered to the woman at the well, she was surprised and said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? She said this because in that day it was unnatural for Jews to associate with Samaritans. Also, it was unnatural for Jesus, a Rabbi, to be seen talking with a woman alone in public. But Jesus broke the natural barriers for the purpose of God. He broke the natural traditions with unnatural truth. Matt. 20:20-28. James and John were exhibiting natural behavior-they wanted to be first. They wanted to be served. Jesus, the unnatural one, was saying flip it around. Instead of having the desire to be first, instead of pushing to be served, humble yourselves and become a servant-like me. (Washing the disciples’ feet).
• The way he handled situations. Luke 20:19-26. These religious leaders thought they were going to be able to trap him with their cunning ability. But Jesus was unnatural in his answer, he saw right through their deception and it blew them away. Matt. 26:52-54 [set-up]. Jesus could’ve called down legions of angels to rescue him in the garden instead of allowing himself to be arrested. It’s unnatural to have the power to free ourselves from a difficult situation and not exercise it.
2) We are called to be unnatural. Rom. 12:2.We are called to go against the flow, to stand out and stand up for Christ. We are called to transform, not conform. We are not supposed to follow the crowd we’re supposed to follow Christ. When Satan can get Christians to blend in with the world then he’s accomplished his goal of rendering God’s people ineffective and unproductive. If we don’t stand out from the world what hope do we have of changing the world? This isn’t about being egotistical and thinking we’re better than. Not better-different. Not better in a narcissistic way but indeed offering a better way of living. But if our living is not unnatural what incentive is there for someone to want to escape the natural? What are the unnatural characteristics that will stand out in a natural world?
• Fruit of the Spirit. Gal. 5:16-26. The acts of the sinful nature are the natural. But we are called to live by the Spirit, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit. These attributes stand out. Showing true love to a world that doesn’t know what love is stands out. Being peaceful in a world of unrest stands out. Being joyful in a depressed and despondent world stands out. Being joyful when we face trials (James 1:2) is unnatural. It’s unnatural to have a positive attitude all the time. Think about it. Ever have one of those people who are always smiling? Always seem happy? Doesn’t that seem unnatural to you? We cop an attitude over their positive attitude and ask disdainfully, “what are you so happy about”? Like there’s something wrong with that. All these unnatural traits stand out because these are the things that are lacking; the things that everyone in the world is looking for but unable to find. These are the things that refresh the soul. The fruit of the Spirit that feeds and nourishes the soul. In these we find the fullness of life that everyone so desperately needs. The fruit of the Spirit is unnatural.
• Generosity. 2nd Cor. 8:1-4. Look at all the unnatural aspects of their generosity. First, being generous is unnatural because it’s natural to be selfish. But aside from that we see that they were under a severe trial and in poverty themselves; yet they were joyful. Therefore, they were willing, despite their circumstances, to be generous. They even gave beyond their ability, beyond what they were able, which tells me that they didn’t give from their abundance, but they gave sacrificially. And they did this without being pressured or prodded to do so. In fact, they urgently pleaded to give. They saw it as a privilege not a burden to be generous. Their generosity was unexpected, uncommon and unnatural.
• Suffering unjustly. 1st Peter 2:18-24. It’s natural to avoid suffering at all costs. It’s natural to be comfortable, to not take any risks. It’s natural to not allow ourselves to be in a position of unjust suffering. Peter calls us to do the unnatural thing and bear the unbearable. Suffering for doing the right thing is unnatural. Being willing to endure unjust suffering without retaliating is very unnatural. But Peter encourages us by telling us it is commendable before God to do so. Peter then points us to our greatest example of unjust suffering-Jesus. Jesus, who didn’t retaliate; instead he trusted God. He even went so far as to pray for his enemies for while they were nailing his hands and feet Jesus asked the father to forgive them-totally unnatural. 4:12-16. Rejoicing, blessed and praising God when we suffer is completely unnatural. I think this type of behavior would stand out.
• Loving your enemies-Matt. 5:38-48. Not retaliating is unnatural. Not getting even is unnatural. Not seeking revenge is unnatural. David and Saul example. Vs. 46-47. Loving those who love you is natural; greeting those who greet you is natural. We are to be unnatural. It’s so natural to get sucked in and react to someone else’s negativity. We are to be gentle with those who are harsh. A gentle answer turns away wrath. We are called to love the unlovable. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, no person in all of East Germany was more despised than the former Communist dictator Erich Honniker. He had been stripped of all his offices. Even the Communist Party rejected him. Kicked out of his villa, the new government refused him and his wife new housing. The Honnikers were homeless and destitute. Enter Pastor Uwe Holmer, director of a Christian help center north of Berlin. Made aware of the Honnikers’ straits, Pastor Holmer felt it would be wrong to give them a room meant for even needier people. So the pastor and his family decided to take the former dictator into their own home! Erich Honniker’s wife, Margot, had ruled the East German educational system for twenty-six years. Eight of Pastor Holmer’s ten children had been turned down for higher education due to Mrs. Honniker’s policies, which discriminated against Christians. Now the Holmers were caring for their personal enemy-the most hated man in Germany. This was so unnatural, so unconventional, yet so Christ-like. By the grace of God, the Holmers loved their enemies, did them good, blessed them, and prayed for the ones who persecuted them. They turned the other cheek. They gave their enemies their coat (their own home). They did to the Honnikers what they would have wished the Honnikers would have done for them years before.
3) Being unnatural is not easy.
• Going against the flow will take its toll. Swimming against the current is difficult. Salmon-how they look when they start and when they finish swimming upstream. Once they have fully matured, salmon will swim back to their original stream or river where they re-adapt to the fresh water and swim back up the stream to reach their spawning grounds. Sometimes this means swimming up rugged rivers with miles of rapids and even waterfalls to leap. This journey takes its toll on them. They start out looking sleek and shiny but by the end of their journey they are discolored and ragged looking. But it’s all for a purpose. Once they get back to their natural stream, they breed and lay their eggs. After spawning they generally die within a week, fertilizing the stream and creating a nutrient-rich environment for the new infant salmon that are about to hatch. It’s not easy to be people whop stand out. It can cause us to lose relationships and perhaps a job. It may even cost us our lives. But it serves the purposes of Christ. It will bring a “well done, faithful servant. Come and share in your Master’s happiness.”
• We will be hated. When you come against the natural with the unnatural, it will rub some people the wrong way. John 15:18-21. Being in the world is natural. Not being of the world is unnatural. And Jesus made it known that those who desire the natural will hate us for what we stand for. Albeit in ignorance and misunderstanding it is still hate. But, as Jesus pointed out, there will be those who will obey the teaching of Jesus-and that’s why we continue to be willing to be hated by some; in hopes that there will be others who will come to love Jesus.
4) Not easy, but worth it.
• It’s enlightening. Being unnatural isn’t easy but it does have its rewards. Even though there will be those who are antagonistic there will also be those who are inspired. There will be some people who will take notice and be drawn into the light. Matt. 5:14-16. We are called to shine the unnatural light of Christ in this naturally dark world. Not that we would be praised, but that God would be.
• Not natural-supernatural. Jesus wants to do supernatural things through us. Jesus said in John 14:11-14 that we will do great things because he was going to the Father which meant he would be sending the Holy Spirit which meant we would do great and unnatural things through the Holy Spirit. We need to exercise our spiritual gifts 1st Cor. 12:7-11. ‘The manifestation of the Spirit is for the common good’. Doing the unnatural isn’t for our glory it’s for God’s. It isn’t for our purpose; it’s to accomplish his. 1st Peter 4:10-11. ‘Using gifts to edify the church’. Doing the supernatural betters the church and brings souls to Jesus.
• Amazing things happen when we do the unnatural. When we do the common we get common results. But when we do the unnatural we can witness a supernatural result. There was once a missionary on furlough with her husband and family after an unusually tiring stint of service. She had been looking forward to this time with great anticipation. For the first time she was going to have a place of her own, a new, large townhouse-styled apartment with a patio. She is very creative and made the patio the focus of her decoration. After a few months some new neighbors moved in. The best word to describe them would be coarse. There was loud music day and night along with a constant flow of obscenities. They urinated in the front yard in broad daylight. They totally disrupted her peace. She could see nothing good in them. She asked the Lord to help her be more loving. All she got back from the neighbors was disgust and rejection. The crisis came when she returned home to discover that her neighbors’ children had sprayed orange paint all over her beautiful patio—the walls, the floors—everything! She was distraught and furious. She tried to pray but found herself crying out, “I cannot love them. I hate them!” Knowing she had to deal with the sin in her heart, she began to converse with the Lord in her inner being, and a Scripture came to mind: Colossians 3:14, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” In her heart she questioned, “Lord, how do I put on love?” The only way she could picture it was like putting on a coat. So that is what she determined to do—she chose to wrap herself in the love of God! As a result she began to experience a deeper life of Christ within her. She made a list of what she would do if she really loved her exasperating neighbors, and then did what she had listed. She baked cookies, she offered to baby-sit for free, she invited the mother over for coffee—and the most beautiful thing happened! She began to know and understand them. She began to see that they were living under tremendous pressures. She began to love her “enemies.” The day came when they moved—and she wept! An unnatural, unconventional love had captured her heart—a supernatural love—the love of Jesus. Richard Wurmbrand, author of, Tortured for Christ, spent fourteen years suffering in a Communist prison because of his faith. He reminds all believers with less than ideal circumstances that "if the heart is cleansed by the love of Jesus Christ, and if the heart loves Him, you can resist all tortures." He said, "God will not judge us according to how much we endured, but how much we could love." The love of God demonstrated in the lives of his people is potent. Wurmbrand gives an example: "A Christian was sentenced to death. Before being executed, he was allowed to see his wife. His last words to his wife were, 'you must know that I die loving those who kill me. They don't know what they do, and my last request of you is to love them, too. Don't have bitterness in your heart because they kill your beloved one. We will meet in heaven.' These words impressed the officer of the secret police, who attended the discussion between the two. He [the officer] told me the story in prison, where he had been put for becoming a Christian." Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
