In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

I have heard this verse quoted so many times, and I always think, “Do people really ask?” Because I’m ready. I know where my hope lies; I know what is my only comfort in life and death; but no one has been asking me.

Then I was reading in Ezekiel. That poor guy. God asked him to do some pretty weird things. He had to build a model city from bricks and sticks, build little siege works against it, and then lay next to it for more than a year. During this time, he had a very specific diet including bread baked over animal dung (Ezekeil 4). Another time he had to pack his luggage, carry it around as though he were in exile, and then he had to dig through the city wall with his hands and leave through the gap carrying his luggage (Ezekiel 12). Other prophets also did odd things to demonstrate God’s plans for Israel. Isaiah spent three years mostly naked and barefoot to symbolize the exile; Hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute to symbolize God’s mercy.

There is no doubt in my mind that people were asking questions of Ezekiel. “What are you doing?” “Why are you doing that?” God expected them to ask, and He told Ezekiel how to respond (Ezekiel 12:8-12). All this time though, Ezekiel’s trust was in God. He kept doing the weird things, because he trusted God more than he feared the false prophets who were telling the people lies and promoting the worship of idols.

I wonder, am I weird enough for God? Do I live my life in such a way that people might wonder why I do “that” and ask me about it? Jesus commissioned believers to be prophets of a sort. Am I doing my prophetic duty, behaving as God directs even when it doesn’t fit with my culture and makes me look weird?

Compared to the pagan culture around me, do I blend in or stand out? How do I use my money, my leisure time; how do I educate my children; do I obey the law and keep my vows; how do I spend the Sabbath; do I raise my voice in favor of traditional family values; do I defend the poor and powerless?

In the old King James Version, Peter calls the church a “peculiar people.” Are you peculiar enough? Are you ready to answer for it?

By Grace Barnes, Bible League International volunteer, United States