I live in Portland, Oregon, the “weird” capital of the United States. In this piece, I reflect on weird religion in America and how it manifests in daily life. Portlanders are suspicious of anything that smacks of low-quality, mass-produced consumerism; here, “conformity” is a four-letter word. On an iconic wall downtown, our civic motto is inscribed for all to see: “Keep Portland Weird.” (A local resident known as the “Unipiper” even rides a unicycle in front of this sign while wearing a Darth Vader mask and playing bagpipes that blow fire.) By and large, Portlanders are skeptical of organized religion, especially Christianity. This intellectual community values science and logic over what it perceives as superstition or “red state” religion. To my neighbors, American Christianity isn’t weird—it is so normal it’s sickening, viewed as a vestige of a racist, sexist, and exclusionist past.
Sometimes when I attend church, I see exactly what they mean. It can easily become just another item on a to-do list—a place to consume content and reinforce wider cultural values. This lack of distinction is why countercultural christian living felt so optional during the 2020 lockdowns. I have spoken with countless pastors about how attendance dwindled during the online era; when things reopened, many people simply didn’t return. They realized they could live without a faith that felt too normal. Because it competed with every other social obligation without offering a unique alternative, it faded into the background of their lives, leaving only a faint trace of nostalgia or guilt.
I am not against tradition or routine, but as a historian and New Testament scholar, I am struck by the contrast between religion in America today and the Jesus communities of the first century. The first Christians were truly weird! I am not referring to their hobbies, but to their radical deviation from cultural norms. In a world where everyone was religious, Christians were seen as backwards and odd because they lacked the essential building blocks of ancient faith: material sacrifices, physical temples, and formal priests. If you had entered a Christian gathering in Ephesus or Philippi, you would have found something entirely alien to society’s expectations. This historical weird religion in America‘s roots is exactly what we have lost today.
I should say from the outset that I don’t think the first Christians were trying to be weird in order to be weird. They weren’t anti-conformist as some sort of intentional political or cultural ideology. In fact, as much as possible, they wanted to prove themselves to be respectable, “good” society members. It was more the case that the person of Christ, the work of the Spirit, and the fundamental dynamics of the gospel themselves changed their orientation toward God, God’s world, God’s creatures, and God’s good end. That made Christians seem like aliens from another planet. They had unusual ways of talking about the divine and about spiritual matters, odd patterns and practices of worship, and suspicious social habits and behaviors. Weird is not always bad (that’s why I live in Portland); weird can be good. But weird can also be dangerous. Ideas and persons and institutions that threaten our core values make us nervous. This book is about how earliest Christianity emerged as a new and strange religion that had various effects on people: some were puzzled and others were offended. For example, a second-century opponent of Christianity named Celsus supposedly said, “If all men wanted to be Christians, the Christians would no longer want them.” Some, like Celsus, saw the Jesus people as a plague on society. But some found deep love in the gospel and a new way to live. Say what you will about first-century Christianity, but it was anything but dull and boring.
Real Coconut Water Is Pink?
I’m one of those weird Portland hippies who likes coconut water. It sounds natural and healthy, and I like eating coconut, so what’s not to like? It took me a while to find the coconut water brand that had the right amount of sugar and the right taste for my palate, but it came to be one of my favorite drinks. One day, I was at Costco and I saw a new brand: Harmless Harvest Organic Coconut Water. I liked the idea of buying in bulk at a cheap price, so I picked one up to check it out. Why is the coconut water pink? I wondered. I thought maybe I picked up a bad pack, so I looked at another set—also pink. In fact, all the packs had pink liquid in the bottles. Lo and behold, there was an explanation on the box under the heading “Naturally Pink.” Long story short, when the natural coconut sugars touch oxygen, they turn the water pink in only a short time. Pink is what color bottled coconut water should be. So why have I only seen clear coconut water before? Many mass-market coconut-water producers use artificial preservatives and other chemicals to maintain a clear and “pristine” appearance. They know that consumers associate “clear” with fresh and clean. Ironically, they add chemicals to make it seem more natural. I know it’s just a drink, but I felt lied to by the American food industry! If coconut water is supposed to be pink, I want the pink stuff.
You can see where I am going with this. If coconut water is supposed to be pink, and I’m being sold a manufactured version to make me feel better, what else in life is “supposed to be pink”? What about Christianity? I hesitate to sell you on the idea that Strange Religion is the only book on the market to tell you the truth about “real Christianity.” I’m Portland weird, but I stop short of being a conspiracy theorist. And yet I do think pop Christianity in the Western world often reflects a “chemically altered” version of the Jesus movement that has been manufactured for cheap refreshment. My goal is to go back to the writings of the apostles and other first-century Christian leaders to see what the “natural ingredients” are in their religion, their faith, and their way of being. With my drinks, I don’t care what color they are; I just want to know exactly what I am putting in my body. With my faith, I don’t care if it looks strange; give it to me the way it was meant to be! I hope that is why you are reading this book, and I hope it is refreshing.
Excerpted from Strange Religion by Nijay Gupta, ©2024. Used by permission of Brazos Press.