Sometimes, the world labels people as “weird” or “crazy” or “psycho” which is judgmental. The outward behavior is strange in these cases so the person seems like a “whacko” (and other such derogatory terms). But God looks at the heart (I Sam. 16:7) and so should we.
So I submit to you that quite often “weird” people are simply NOT SAVED. They are unbelievers who have not been born again! They need Christ!
Think about Adam and Eve after they sinned in Genesis 3. The two of them became “weird” after disobeying God. They felt afraid, guilty, and ashamed. So much so that they put on fig leaves (something new that had never been done before) and they hid in the bushes from God! I would say that was “crazy” behavior – playing hide and seek with God!
But think about their state of mind: they were truly guilty and without remedy at that point. There was no remedy for their sin at that moment in time and they were avoiding their consequences by use of their own devices. But God…God came on the scene, calling them to take responsibility for their actions, and to repent so that He might be reconciled to them through a blood sacrifice. The Gospel was first presented by God Himself as He called to man, “Where are you?” in Genesis 3:9.
Had God not intervened in their lives, Adam and Eve would have remained as “whackos” probably doing more and more crazy things! Had God not held them responsible for sin and told them that they were both “narcissistic personality disorders” or “bipolar” or “major depressive disorder” or the like, then they would have never repented and returned to the Lord in a reconciled relationship. Had God written them a psychotropic medication prescription, they would have stayed happily hid in the bushes yet still far away from God – they would have just felt better about their disobedience.
They had never known grace until God showed it to them. God confronted them with the truth in love and they finally took responsibility (of course, after first pointing out the responsibility of others) by saying, “and I ate” (Gen. 3:12-13). Had that not happened, they would have stayed in a “psycho” state of mind. You and I would have, also!
In fact, that is precisely what is happening today. People do not know the Gospel; therefore, they act like “weird” or “crazy” people. People in that state of mind do not know Christ and the love of Christ! Medications to cover up the “bad feelings” do not help long-term and may even hinder them from experiencing repentance and knowing Christ as it affects their thinking.
So the next time you think to yourself (and you very likely will), “That person is crazy!” Instead, I want you to pray for that person, see them as lost (potentially, not always I understand), and to evangelize them. If they have an encounter with Jesus, maybe what happened in Mark 5:15 will be a repeat occurrence and a testimony:
And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
These folks became “afraid” because they thought it was impossible for this demon-possessed man to ever come to his senses, but we know that nothing is impossible with Christ!
-Mark (learning to “label” people biblically not according to the world’s labels which only bring condemnation, futility, and a lack of hope – let’s call sin “sin”)