Going bananas

The churches in Markfield held a children's Holiday Club this week, and I popped in yesterday morning to see how things were going.  The children seemed to be having a great time, with songs, games, stories, craft activities, food & drink keeping them well occupied and engaged.

This year's Holiday Club was based on a resource called "Going Bananas."  On each of the 3 days of the Holiday Club, a focus was made on a Biblical character who "went bananas" for God.  The first character was Noah, who built an ark in the desert when there was absolutely no sign of rain.  The second character was Zacchaeus, who not only climbed a tree (not the done thing for a man with any self-respect) but also gave away half his money to the poor!  Then the third character was the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with a very expensive jar of perfume as a sign of her love for him.

Three very different characters, but the one thing they had in common was that they were prepared to do something which many of their contemporaries would have thought to be crazy (or "bananas"). In Noah's case, he was ready to do what God had said even though it seemed to make no sense.  For Zacchaeus and the unnamed women, it was their meeting with Jesus which led them do something which must have shocked those who knew them.  There are so many other characters in the Bible and through history who could be used as examples of the same thing.

The Apostle Paul wrote in one of his letters, "Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools."  The truth is that sometimes to be obedient to God or to answer the call of Jesus is to run the very real risk of looking foolish in the eyes of our friends or family.  I suppose that when, many years ago, I made the decision to leave my well-paid job as a Chartered Accountant in order to train for the Methodist Ministry (with all the implications, not only for me but for my family as well), there will have been some who thought I was going bananas.  In human terms my decision didn't make much sense, but I knew then and still know that it was the right one, because it was what God had called me to do.

There was a piece on this morning's BBC Breakfast programme about so-called tomb-stoning, the practise of jumping from a high position such as a cliff or bridge into water.  The dangers of such activity was highlighted; a number of people have been killed or seriously injured in recent years.  That really is a foolish thing to do.  Aspects of the life of following Jesus can appear foolish, and there may be times when others think that we are going bananas.  But God's way is always the best way, whatever anyone else may think!