Ok... 100% definate about this.... I have a new favorite movie. If you havent gone to see "Accepted" this weekend, there is still one day of the weekend left :)

Aside from the movie being absolutely hilarious, it makes a really good point.... That point can be summed up in two words.... and I'm going to put those words on their own line:

CONFORMITY SUCKS!!!!

Ok... point made, I hope. But honestly, if you take whatever it is you do in life, you are expected to follow rules. Now, there are some rules that are good but too many rules can ruin your creativity. You go to college and you're expected to get good grades and pass tests in classes that have absolutely nothing to do with your major. You have an advisor that tells you what you should and shouldn't take. Then if you join a fraternity, you're expected to drink -- because thats what college life is all about? Or if you do really well in school, you're expected to go on to grad school and "make something of your life" .... Then get a job making the most amount of money possible... thats what life is all about, right? Being on top and making the most money so you can buy a house that is insanely too big for your small family. And hey, since you have a 5 car garage in that huge house, well, you're expected to have 5 cars... and maybe even one to sit outside. So does that sound over the top? Of course it does.... but to me, it sounds over the top with the first requirement: you're supposed to go to college.

It's not that college is a bad thing. It's that forcing someone into conformity based on something that God never intended that person for is a bad thing. But let's step aside from school. You're a Christian so you are expected to follow rules. Christians never swear -- well, at least when they are in public. Christians never sin -- well, ok, we know the secret that ALL humans sin including Christians but dont let anyone else in the world know that, right? You're expected to be perfect. Guess what: I'm not perfect! And neither are you.

How many kids grow up with expectations from their parents that they were not intended to meet? We're supposed to be perfect. Kids are told all the time that they are free to do whatever they want so long as its from a pre-selected list.

We all need to quit making and taking expectations. In school, in church, in the home or wherever else there are a predefined set of rules. I've been told so many times that I cant be a Christian because of [fill in any number of things]. I'm unorthodox... what the crap is orthodox anyway? Whetever it is, does the Jesus you read about in the Bible fit the bill of orthodox? Did He do everything is was expected to do? Heck no, the Guy made wine out of water. How many Christians today would faint if that occured now? I think I remembered Him raising people from the dead too. Are you going to tell me that was the expectation of the day? Come to think of it, maybe that's why the pharisees hated Him so much -- BECAUSE HE DIDNT CONFORM!

I dont want to be the person that fits your description of what a 26 year old male is. Nor what a Christian is, what a Northern Virginian is, what a person with ADHD is, what a person volunteering for my church is, or what an internet technician is. I want to break the mold and be who God wants me to be and if it doesnt fit your profile, leave me alone and stop trying to change me.

Thinking back to... wow, it had to be like 1st grade. One of my favorite movies back then was Short Circuit. I remember being at school and actually making believe we were robots (I wasnt the only Short Circuit fan). But I remember very clearly one day when we were in library the librarian asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up and I said I wanted to build a robot and I went into detail about the robot (it was basically Johnny 5, of course). I started explaining how it would have a laser on it that could blow things up and that it wouldnt be used for killing people and a girl in my class said something to the effect of "that's crazy beacuse there is no such thing as a laser" ... Well, ok... Short Circuit was science fiction but I remember the librarian saying "Well, maybe he's going to invent it then" ... By this point, I remembered feeling really heart broken... it was nice that the librarian stood up for me but I had a limitation thrown at me. I remember a couple of my friends coming to me that week with ideas of how I could make the laser work.... I was told that maybe I could put a bomb in a tube and have a fan on the back of the tube that would blow a stream from the bomb. Yea, it's funny now -- but when you're in first grade, it sounds great. The problem was, I didnt even care... I had a limitation set and as far as I can tell, I havent invented the laser.

Sure... if that girl hadnt given me that limitation, the chances of me making the laser were slim.... but, the question is, what could I have come up with? I mean... think about the person who invented Coca Cola. He was trying to come up with a headache medicine. It didnt work and I'm sure there were plenty of people that knew it wouldnt -- but if someone would have told him that, we wouldnt have Coca Cola today.

I've said all of this to make just two small points. Don't try to conform and fit in. Be yourself because that's who God created you to be and dont expect people to fit any paticular mold. God didnt create us all with the same mold so we can't be expected to be the same, can we?