The NEW year. 2010. It started out just watching TV. "The Price is Right" was on and my mother-in-law was watching it. People were going crazy to get up there and bid, to see Drew, to play a game, to win BIG. Everyone in the place was acting like fools, so no one thought the other was being abnormal. This state of "Price is Right" hysteria permeated all other audience thoughts. I watched one overweight, short, black lady win a bid. Then, like she had no weight at all, she leaped up those stairs, ran to Drew, and threw her arms around him. Then, she began to jump up and down, crying out "Drew, oh, Drew, I love you!" Everyone was laughing and screaming and clapping and waving hands. Drew was laughing and trying to cut to commercial. Total pandemonium broke out, which repeated each time a new contestant came up, with slight variations of course. Some interesting points:
- If the behavior is the same, that is the norm. Whether it is a game show audience, or a church congregation, some kind of "normal" gets established. To go outside that normal zone is going to label you as a little (or a lot) wacky.
- To an "outsider", certain behavior looks weird, abnormal, or wacky. To people inside, it is normal. The perspective is where you stand when you see it.
- A common purpose, goal, or person exists in which the interest dominates and the behavior manifests. Generally, the more exciting the purpose, goal, or person, the "crazier" the behavior.
In the church I go to, we like to get excited. We have an excitable purpose, goal, AND person. We will wave our hands, shout, sing loud, and sometimes dance or run. To the outside it is probably crazy-looking behavior. It's normal for us because we are there. We know what Jesus did, is doing, and will do. He has given us a reason to live, and we can see a life forever. That is exciting!
So, can you get excited about a football game or a game show? Can you jump up and down playing a board game or doing charades? Can you celebrate with your hands, and your feet, and your voice to Jesus? In all the demonstrations of joy and hysteria, I would pick this last one as having everlasting merit.
