For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
-1 Corinthians 1:18

Yesterday was quite eventful; a veritable grab bag of events sort of jumbled together to create a unique fingerprint on the timeline of my life. Included in the montage was the beginnings of a new neighborly relationship, an emergency room visit, an observation of the behavior of parrots, a new burger recipe and a conversation with a guy named Norm.

I have seen Norm around town. Imperial Beach, while a city, has a small town dynamic that is pretty rare in southern California. Everyone sort of knows everyone. Norm is the guy on the bike. That's what he does. He will tell you that his name is "Norm, like the social norm, which I'm not."

Well, I was looking for my wife and kids at the basketball court by the beach. Norm pulled up on his bike and commented on my son's skateboard. Quickly, the conversation went from the finer details of owning a Russian-made bicycle to theology. Norm has some interesting things to say about Christians. None of them were very good. Well, actually, he employed the use of very impactful profanity in his assessment. I'm not sure he let the word "Christian" get by without at least one F-word to adequately describe his utter displeasure.

He waxed historic; giving me a lesson on why Nero was right to slaughter as many Christians as he could get a hold of. He was convinced that everything wrong in the world was the fault of the Christian church.

Eventually, he took a breath and let me have a go. I simply explained that Jesus taught people to serve others. He wanted to add more to it; to sully it. I just redirected him back to the simple truth of Jesus' example. At some point, he conceded that not all Christians were evil. I alluded to the fact that all Christians are, however, human.

Finally, he calmed down and admitted that Jesus' teachings were good. But then, he swore that he couldn't believe that he rose from the dead. He said that it was all an elaborate trick; a hoax. I think he used more F-words. Yes, lots of F-words.

Then he challenged me to explain why Christians don't do what Jesus taught.

Ouch.

He looked at me with a seriousness that was unsettling. He was waiting and I was speechless. I said that we are all imperfect and that we need help. I said that I don't know what is in the hearts of other people, but that real Christianity is about sacrifice and service.

He scrutinized me for a moment, and then he said that I was smart and that he would like to talk to me again sometime. He reminded me that people don't come back from the dead, even if they teach good things. (more F-words). I said it was nice talking.

Good 'ol social Norm. He is more the social norm than he realizes, I think. I am looking forward to seeing more of him.