Sometimes those little token phrases that get tossed around the church—such as "Jesus loves everyone equally" and "Jesus is God"—aren't given so much as a second thought. But it seems that God has done some of the most powerful work in my life with those very concepts that I never bothered to think through completely.

The one that really has been ringing loudly in my ears lately is how Jesus calls us to be "in the world, but not of it." Jesus himself frequently spoke about his kingdom not being of this world, and how if the people questioning him knew his father, then they would know Jesus also. However, a quick read through any gospel will quickly reveal that friend and foe alike had no clue where Jesus was from, where his kingdom was, or why he was there with them in the first place, despite his best attempts to explain everything clearly.

I think it goes without saying that there are many great examples of Jesus demonstrating behavior that not only affirmed his own faith in his claims, but validated them. Curing diseases, controlling nature, and raising people from the dead are just a few. But what particularly interests me is how he interacted with the culture.

Anyone who had grown up for over 30 years in first-century Nazareth would have had a pretty sound understanding of the cultural norms of that time. He would know that people with skin diseases are to be avoided. He would know that when a person has been dead for several days, there is no saving them. This person would understand that disrespecting authority would earn you more than a slap on the wrist.

But these are exactly the kinds of things that Jesus ignored. He did everything that made people’s jaws drop. He chose love over the norms that their culture had constructed because he knew that love was greater.

Jesus knew what he was doing. He had to know that people were going to react strongly when he turned a deaf ear to everything that was “right” in their time. He had to know that the lowly, mistreated, and ignored people would almost instantly turn their hearts over to him. Likewise, he had to know that he was going to upset the people who had dedicated their lives to keeping their religious beliefs in check and their communities in order.

Think about that for a second. It’s easy to say, but put yourself in the shoes of those people. Think about how incredibly offensive Jesus was, right or wrong. I have to wonder if maybe the heated arguments that Jesus got into with the Pharisees weren’t fueled by the fact that he had no respect for their high-and-mighty position in society. Numerous times, we see them coming back to fight with him and trying to catch him in a trap. Do you think maybe their pride was a little bent out of shape? I mean, we paint the Pharisees to be such horrible people, but we’d probably react the same way if some low-life came talking to us like he knew something we didn’t.

Now, on the other side of the coin…

Be brutally honest with yourself about your biggest insecurity, your worst fear, or the thing you hate most about your life. Think about the thing that you feel segregates you from the rest of society, or the thing that prevents you from ever taking risks in your life. What if an unsuspecting person on the street, who looked to be nothing special, walked up to you and relieved you of your affliction? How would you feel?

Part of me would feel completely thrown off by the fact that someone who appeared to have no money, no education, or no power changed my life in a way that a doctor or psychologist never could. If it were me, I’d probably be asking for a way to repay him to show my gratitude. I’d also go around telling everyone about the incredible thing he did for me.