Devotional: Crazy Beside Ourselves

Crazy Beside Ourselves

"For if we are [crazy] beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you" (2 Corinthians 5:13).

I recently heard a testimony of an executive who became homeless and then found salvation at the Dream Center in St. Louis. He said when he was first invited he said, "No way. I don't want to have anything to do with that hand-waving, mumbo-jumbo!" Of course, he did eventually go, got saved, and is now ministering to homeless people on the streets of New York. But before all that, his view of "church" was that we were all crazy.

In my own life, there are times when my worship or actions may appear radical or crazy. But like Paul said, if I appear crazy to you, it's for God, not you. But if in my speech or teaching I seem to be of sound mind, then it is for you. In simple terms, this is called zealousness. It will sometimes make you appear as if you are crazy or out of your mind! But the Bible is full of men and women of God who in all outward appearance seemed crazy, but in actuality were simply lovers of God and obedient to His commands.

In the Old Testament, we see a story that at first glance would make you think, "Is he crazy?" But a little further study will prove otherwise. "Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote and sent letters to Samaria... saying: If you are for me and will obey my voice, take the heads of your master's sons, and come to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow" (2 Kings 10:1,6). Ahab was king of Israel and he had seventy young sons that were being reared by Samaritans. Jehu was a prophet. Believe it or not, the people obeyed Jehu and killed all of the young boys as commanded. Now, it's not so much that they obeyed that makes this story crazy, but the fact that seventy young boys were killed. And the story doesn't end there. "So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel and all his great men and his close acquaintances and his priests, until he left him none remaining" (2 Kings 10:11). So Jehu was on a hunt. "Now when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab, coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, 'Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart?' And Jehonadab answered, 'It is.' Jehu said, 'If it is, give me your hand.' So he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. Then he said, 'Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.' So they had him ride in his chariot" (2 Kings 10:15-16).

What's happened is Jehu is on a manhunt and he meets Jehonadab, who most likely has heard of all that Jehu has been up to, and Jehu says to him, "Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord." Hello! Don't you mean, my craziness? Nowadays, Jehu would have already been stopped and locked away. He was, in a sense, a serial killer. But as Jehu greeted Jehonadab on the road he talked to him as if he were in his right mind, not crazy. So what's going on? If we back to First Kings, we find out that it was King Ahab who established idolatry in Israel and "Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him" (1 Kings 16:33). So what appeared to be crazy behavior by Jehu was actually obedience to the command given by the Lord to Elijah for Ahab's life and an end to all his seed. Jehu's craziness was for God, not for man. God could not allow Israel to be contaminated any longer. Jehu was His man.

Take Jesus as another example. Remember when He ran through the temple turning over tables and cracking a whip? It wasn't until later that His disciples recalled that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up" (John 2:17). I have no doubt He looked crazy! But again, if we appear "...[crazy] beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you."

I guess the question now is: are you crazy? If you are, then let it be for God. Whether it's the way you worship or the way you share your faith, or simply in your obedience, let your focus be on God and not on what others think. You can be sure that persecution comes with it, but the Word states "...all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecutions" (2 Timothy 2:25). Hopefully, it is every Christian's goal to live godly. So hey! If persecution is coming either way, let's just take it and be crazy beside ourselves for Him!