Being square pegs

By Charles Christian

A short-lived 1980s television comedy series called “Square Pegs” followed a group of high school students from a variety of backgrounds trying to fit in.

Predictably, as is true in many real-life high school situations, they always come up a bit short when it comes to fitting in or “feeling normal.” Somehow, though, their friendship and journey toward self-discovery allow them to find happiness and even some contentment through these difficult years. They realize that being a “square peg,” as in the old saying “a square peg trying to fit into a round hole,” isn’t always so bad.

It is always a challenge to be different, to go against the grain. It is never easy to challenge the normal course of things around us. However, as people of faith, that is often what we are called to do.

For Christians, the call of Jesus is to be “in the world, but not of the world” (see John 17), which means that although we are called to be active participants in the issues and sufferings that are part of our world, we are to approach things a different way. Where the world around us relies upon manipulation, we are to practice truth-telling. Where the world around us relies upon raw power, we are asked to show compassion. Where the world around us relies upon stepping over those less fortunate, we are to be people who reach out to those who are downtrodden and try to help them up.

This is how we end up being “square pegs.” We are people who are also called “strangers” and even “exiles” in the Bible. Again, this does not mean that we are called to act as if we are better than everyone else. It does, though, require that we approach the issues and the people around us in a way that may seem illogical and contrary to the “normal” way of doing things.

This God who calls us to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us and love those whom the world may call “unlovable” knew from the start that this approach would make those of us who take God seriously to be seen as different, even odd. Nevertheless, that is exactly what we are called to be.

The promise from God involved in this kind of living can be summed up in the words of Jesus, who, in his most well-known sermon, says, “Blessed (happy, fulfilled, joyous) are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

In a world that seems to be in love with power, prejudice and war, God’s children are those who consistently and lovingly oppose such things to create a “new normal.” In that new normal, the square pegs have the final say.