Kind of Crazy

John noticed another woman scrutinizing him for afar. One eyebrow was raised, and her chin was tilted down as she surveyed his appearance.

His unruly appearance.

But he didn't care. He used to care, but it was hard to care when one was so focused on the Lord, and all He had in store. And it was a lot.

Honestly, his appearance didn't bother him. Not even when a little girl called him a camel, and tried to pet him. What bothered him was when people like that woman, used it as a justification not to listen to the truths he was proclaiming.

John just had to believe that those people weren't ready yet. People from all over Judea and Jerusalem were flocking to hear the new things he was saying about God. It had been a dry and thirsty time for his people. They were eager to listen. Eager to receive. Eager to welcome the amazing things God was about to do among them.

So John kept proclaiming the Lord's message. While emphatically using his hands to share these amazing truths, John saw out of the corner of his eye that the woman was walking away from the group.

He ignored her. It wasn't important.

Based on Mark 1:4-8

"Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey." Mark 1:6

I don't know about you guys, but this just paints a wild picture in my mind. I just see a man with wild eyes. His hair sticking up in every which direction. His clothes are worn and torn, and frankly a little weird given that they are made out of camel's hair. A leather belt is tied sloppily around his waist. To complete the picture, he's scooping honey-covered locusts out of a bowl with his bare hands.

Right? Right? The kind of image that makes you want to steer your children away from him. It's not exactly the capable, altogether image we Christians try to maintain.

So what?

What does it matter. John the Baptist looked kind of crazy. I am kind of crazy. We should all be really crazy for God. So what do our looks matter?

Nothing.

I'm the kind of person who is fairly trendy. I don't live for the latest styles, and it's been almost a year since I've gone clothes shopping, but I keep up with more current styles. And there have been times in my life that I've kinda snubbed people who dressed like they just leapt out of the 1960's. But that's not right.

The people flocked to hear John the Baptist speak. Flocked. What if they had all stayed away because of something superficial like how he dressed? Would the heart's of the people have been prepared for Jesus?

I like a new pair of jeans as much as the next gal, but it's not the thing that counts. What counts is that these people are earnestly serving God. That we are earnestly serving God.

V. Joy Palmer