Normal? Who’s Normal?
Not you, that’s for sure! No one you’ve ever met, either. None of us are
normal according to God’s definition, and the closer we get to each
other, the plainer that becomes.
Yet for all our quirks, sins, and jagged edges, we need each other.
Community is more than just a word—it is one of our most fundamental
requirements. So how do flawed, abnormal people such as ourselves master
the forces that can drive us apart and come together in the
life-changing relationships God designed us for?
In Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them, teacher and
best-selling author John Ortberg zooms in on the things that make
community tick. You’ll get a thought-provoking look at God’s heart, at
others, and at yourself. Even better, you’ll gain wisdom and tools for
drawing closer to others in powerful, impactful ways. With humor,
insight, and a gift for storytelling, Ortberg shows how community pays
tremendous dividends in happiness, health, support, and growth. It’s
where all of us weird, unwieldy people encounter God’s love in tangible
ways and discover the transforming power of being loved, accepted, and
valued just the way we are.
The need for community is woven into the very fabric of our being.
Nothing else can substitute for the life-giving benefits of connecting
with others—not even God. He won’t preempt the way he himself has
designed us to reflect his own intensely relational nature.
But there’s a hitch in our experience of community, says John Ortberg:
We’re all weird. Folks around us may seem normal enough, but just wait
till we get to know them—and they get to know us. The unhealthy, sinful
ways we respond to life in a fallen world are hardly God’s idea of
“normal,” and they can make us as unhuggable as porcupines. We face the
“porcupine dilemma,” says Ortberg: We need each other, but how do we get
close without getting hurt? How do we get past all those quills and
grow together in Christ?
In Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them, Ortberg once again
reveals his gift for sharing profound insights using a lighten-up
approach. With winsome humor and a fondness for well-spun stories, he
pops the myth of normalcy and hands us the keys to creating and
sustaining relationships. “God’s dream for community encompasses the
redemption of all spheres of life,” he says.
Who doesn’t want like to be liked, to be wanted, to have solid,
satisfying friendships! Ortberg shows what such relationships are made
of. He reveals the benefits of authenticity-what it means to live with
an “unveiled face,” as the Bible puts it. He encourages us to trade the
stones it’s so easy to cast at others for acceptance. He opens our eyes
and heart to empathy, the art of reading people. And he takes us through
the ins and outs of conflict, forgiveness, confrontation, inclusion,
and gratitude.
The principles and discussion questions in this book are down-to-earth.
They’re for real people living in a real world, and are intended to help
us count the practical cost of relationship and then pay it-because in
all the rewards and struggles of community, we’re investing in something
beyond our comprehension. You could call it heaven. You could call it
home. It’s the place where all of us are headed, all of us belong, and
all of us will be normal at last.
