who wants to be normal?

One of the most memorable moments of my life was when I broke the news to my mom that I had been kicked out of college for bad grades. She had invested so much in my education and had such high hopes. So, I thought she'd blow a gasket. But instead, she calmly said "you're just trying to be average". (Actually, I was trying to be excellent in video games, and was thus, unable to be even average in terms of my grades!)

Students often settle for C's-- the so-called "average". C's here and there are expected and even reasonable. But "C students" are unimpressive and generally, quite below average. Do you want your doctor or lawyer or architect or...to be "average".

And then there's average's close cousin, "normal".

As Dave Ramsey (personal finance guru) likes to note: normal in that arena is being broke-- and as he adds, don't take advice from broke people. I don't want to be "normal" in my finances.

In terms of homeschooling (we're about to start our second year), outsiders sometimes worry that such kids will not be "normal" since they're not exposed to the traditional peer groups in government schools. I certainly don't want my kids to be normal in many of those ways. Even private/Christian schools are prone to certain problems. Again, I don't want to embrace that sort of normal either.

According to Webster's Dictionary, normal means "conforming, adhering to, or constituting a usual or typical pattern." But that begs the question: which pattern? In the Normal Christian Life, Watchman Nee points to "the norm" within Biblical Christianity and what should, therefore, be "the norm" and thus, "normal" within the Christian community (II Peter 3:18; I Thess 1:3). Oftentimes, that's not the case.

Why not? Because too many Christians are not disciples-- or apprentices of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the subject of Dallas Willard's excellent book, The Divine Conspiracy.

So, should you avoid or strive for normal? It depends on your definition of normal...