Counterintuitive

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
– Paul the Apostle, Romans 12:2

Say you want to start a revolution. A big revolution to change the world. You assemble your handpicked team: several fishermen, a tax collector, and a couple of fanatics. No soldiers, preachers, lawyers, politicians, or generals. Fishermen.

Oh, that’ll strike fear in the hearts of the largest military empire the world has ever known!

Still, in just three-and-a-half years, Jesus and His 12 disciples did exactly that. They changed history.

Unlikely, improbable men and women who have made a difference fill the annals of Christianity.

Paul was a tentmaker. Martin Luther was a grumpy monk. Joan of Arc was an illiterate shepherd. Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer. John Newton, the composer of “Amazing Grace,” captained a slaving ship. Fanny Crosby was blind.

In fact, Christianity has always flourished when it is in the hands of the despised, the marginalized, the helpless, the few.

In Western Europe, where Christianity has been the state religion for centuries, church attendance today is miniscule. The great cathedrals are virtually empty; some parish churches have been shuttered for decades.

But in sub-Saharan Africa and in China, where opposition and persecution is ferocious, the Church has exploded in Pentecostal fire.

Jesus never chose the easy way, the obvious way. He wasn’t born in Rome, but tiny, backwater Bethlehem. He didn’t live in Athens, but in the obscure village of Nazareth. He didn’t address great throngs in the Coliseum. Instead He wandered from village to village, speaking in parables, healing cripples, and feeding children.

It all seems so . . . counterintuitive.