Friday, 11 December 2009
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What It Means to Be a Deviant
By Jeremy at BeDeviant I’m in a class at Drake University called Consumer Behavior. It’s a marketing class. We were talking the other day about why people conform to their surrounding culture. The second item on our list caught my eye. It suggested that we (the consumer) fold to social pressures because we have a natural fear of deviance. I will admit that the first thing I thought of was Justin’s blog, Be Deviant. The name itself seems to suggest that we should in fact be deviating. But why? Why should we stray from our instincts?
Deviance simply means “departing from the norm”. It can be a good thing, it can be a bad thing. Older generations tend to have a negative view of deviance, while younger generations are more cynical by nature and actually respect some level of deviance much more than blind conformity (hence this blog). I tend to agree with that last part. But again, why should be striving to go against the grain?
It’s easy actually. Scripture tells us to. Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
There’s a ton to unpack there, but I’ll keep it simple. This world has a certain pattern:
- A pattern of sex, money, celebrity worship and selfishness. Those are the obvious ones.
- There are also more subtle patterns though. Apathy, relativity, “tolerance”, laziness, fear of risk, etc. The list can go on and on.
- We generally know what these things are. It doesn’t necessarily need to be flashed in front of us.
Paul, the writer of Romans, tells us to deviate from these norms. He tells us to depart from them, and turn to the pattern of Jesus instead. He even tells us how to do it. We have to be transformed by renewing our minds. Following Jesus is a thinking lifestyle.
So, you may be asking, how do I do that? It’s interesting that this whole topic of deviance is actually leading to more questions than concrete answers. I believe that’s actually part of it. I can give you one suggestion though:
Believe that Jesus is Lord, and do what He did. If you follow His example, you will automatically renew your mind and be a deviant in the process.
Are you with me? Are you ready to be a deviant? Are you willing to look a little different than the world?
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About the Author
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- From: bedeviant
- Name: Justin
- About Me: A religious deviant who enjoys coffee, reading theology, graphic design, and spending time with his wife while creatively exploring the riches of the Spirit of Christ.
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Comments (10)
Wow, that's a provocative insight.. How much different can we look, and still be true to ourselves?
i think it depends. in the case of most Christians i know, they still follow what you consider to be the norm.
and in my opinion, Christianity IS the norm. its attempt to still claim minority status is somewhat disingenuous at this point.
It seems that today, there has been a conformed movement to be deviant... It's suddenly cool to be something else...
Not meaning to imply anything. I've noticed this trend lately. everyone's a nerd... everyone's a rebel... everyone wants to be something special.
But it's not these things that make us who we are. It's Jesus. He gives us our identity.
I think that's what this post is getting at... that christianity, though it covers the majority of the population, has in some cases become a counterculture... or should be the counterculture that people are drawn to more than they are.
Good post.
I think the process of understanding the "transformation" is very painful, especially once you realize that when Paul said "by the renewing of your mind" he meant to cast off ALL your previous concerns and take up your new concerns-- TRANSLATION-- what you think about is what you do; by completely changing our mind we will no longer do the things we once did (sinful or non-sinful) and we will do things we once never would do before.
It was suggested that "Christianity" is the norm by @too_pretty_to_die@xanga - , and by all means it is very "popular" sometimes to claim to be a Christian. Maybe simply being an American citizen qualifies as being a Christian-- however I have a different out-take on things.
I have, as I do today, always been of the opinion that being a Christian is not something that you simply say; it's something that you are. The direction of your life and your words match up. Even including the times you mess up-- the action of true repentance still shows who you are.
Living the lifestyle of a Christian-- even if I didn't say anything-- will offend people. They'll look at one's lifestyle and be convicted and it'll make someone mad.
So, at any-rate, I agree with the Original Post. To the world, lets be deviants; I would then add in Christ lets be unitedly conformed.
@deepestrecesses -
"Living the lifestyle of a Christian--
even if I didn't say anything-- will offend people. They'll look at
one's lifestyle and be convicted and it'll make someone mad. "
that doesn't necessarily make you a deviant... you may be just a jerk ;) and offending doesn't always mean you go against the cultural norms. most people in this country think homosexuals shouldn't get married. that doesn't prevent them from offending the minority who do.
i would ask one thing, though, of Christians who judge whether they get it right based on whether people react negatively. make sure it's happening for the right reason. when i see a Christian holding up a God Hates Fags sign, i'm offended... and i wonder if the Christian god really wanted THAT to be the reason why. Jesus offended the religious establishment by challenging the traditional understanding of the Law. he offended the Romans by challenging their sovereignty. he never offended the average citizen by walking around and telling people they were Satanic, depraved, sodomite socialists.
@too_pretty_to_die@xanga - yeah.... I wasn't talking about people holding up "God hates fags" signs....
Is it me or is every commenter being deviant by commenting in italic? Maybe this page automatically turns everything into italic? I'll soon find out.
What matters in the end is what value is created in relationships with people and what one contributes to society. There have been many who have believed Jesus is Lord who have done very good things in the world. There have also been many who have believed Jesus is Lord and done what they believed he did and have made the world worse, sometimes doing horrible things to people. Most people who believe Jesus is Lord fall somewhere in between by not deviating from what is considered to be the norm in Christianity. Simply believing Jesus is Lord is not the answer.
I agree....Christians must be deviant.
It doesn't mean that we're jerks, or rebellious towards others. It just means that we're living the opposite of what the world teaches.
However, this is extremely hard because everything within me screams towards conformity, which is embodied in selfishness. That's why discipleship is so valuable.
I'm deviant with you!!!
@deepestrecesses - true. but in my environment, being Christian is what you conform to. you can only be offensive and deviant in terms of belief by being non-Christian. i get sick of Christians claiming they're going against what the world wants, when from my POV they ARE the world, and the rest of us are the oppressed minority.
@deepestrecesses - I understand that from your perspective, you think that Christianity is popular.
The perspective that I'm writing from is similar to yours, but with a different outtake. I am a pastor, so you might say that "Christianity" is my world-- much like you say your world is... perhaps even more so, I'm surrounded by the Church and those who say they're Christians all day long, every day.
What I'm trying to say is that what is popularly perceived to be "Christian" is not Christian.
More specifically to the post, if you do what the Lord has told us to do, even "Christians" may be unwilling to accept you.