Everyone seems to be obsessed these days with doing their “thing.”

I have friends who are musicians who spend time wood-shedding – and don’t fret if you’ve never heard that term – it’s a musicians thing. 

I also have a lot of friends who are writers, and in order to get in touch with their “muse” (the ability to write with inspiration) they have a bunch of odd behaviors that, basically, is their thing.

My health-focused friends have their “health things” (from food choices to crazy exercise schedules). My athlete friends have their training and performance “things.”

Most of us who aren’t part of a particular group observe the behaviors from the outside looking in, and they often just come across as being weird.  Let’s face it, we don’t understand them….because it’s not our “thing,” it’s their “thing.”

And a lot of these “things” are rooted in culture and social roles that we don’t really identify with. We don’t really get it, we’re told, because it’s:

a Black thing.

an Asian thing.  

a woman thing.

a man thing.

a teenager thing.

The Isley Brothers wrote the “thing” theme song: It’s Your Thing, Do What You Wanna Do. And if by chance you haven’t heard it, don’t worry. It’s a 60’s thing.

Out of all of the odd “things” I’ve encountered, and “thing-related” behavior, nothing quite matches the story of Jesus dying on the cross to save mankind. What an odd way to save the world. But, I guess dying to save everybody was his thing. 

The true Christian lifestyle is also just as odd. Love those who hate you. Do good to those who despitefully use you. Pray for the well being of those who persecute you. If someone smacks you in the face, don’t retaliate, just turn the other cheek.  Sounds pretty radical if you ask me. Definitely not my thing. But to follow after Christ, sometimes you have to learn about his thing and make his thing your thing. 

Jesus told a political and religious leader named Nicodemus that this kind of behavior couldn’t be understood until a person had a personal rebirth of their spirit (John 3:3). To understand the ways of the Kingdom of God you have to be a member of the Kingdom of God, otherwise, you’ll never, ever be able to make any sense of this radical lifestyle.

That’s because the God kind of love is one of the most amazing “things” of all: it’s a righteous thang. 


©Carl Prude, 2013

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