Are You A Creep?

I imagine if you’ve made it past today’s title you are probably here because my question has evoked some type of emotional response or curiosity. Your first thought may have been “Hey! I’m not a creep! Why are you asking that?” Or you may have thought “Well my girlfriend called me a creep last night, so maybe I am.” Or you may have just been curious and wondered “Where in the world did that question come from?”

Well the question comes from the Radiohead song Creep (WARNING: the lyrics of this song has some language readers may find inappropriate):

And while the song does not ask the question, it does make the statement that perhaps a lot of people feel or contemplate at some point in their lives – “I’m a creep.” Creep is another one of those overloaded English words that you have to read far down into the definition in order to find the meaning the song intends: “5 : an unpleasant or obnoxious person”. And the song adds to the statement: “I’m a weirdo” in order to further clarify the point. Use of the word weirdo is pretty straight forward and to the point. The song writer is saying ‘I want to be somebody special, but instead I’m an unpleasant, obnoxious, strange, weird person’.

And while you may not be a ‘creep‘, I believe I can state with all assurance that at some point in your life you have been ‘unpleasant‘, ‘obnoxious‘, ‘strange‘ or ‘weird‘. And if you think you haven’t, I believe I can also state that you are in denial and that there is at least one person at some point in your life that has thought you exhibited one or more of those traits.

We have ALL been ‘creeps‘ and ‘weirdos‘ at some point in our lives. Every person who has lived, is alive today, or who will live, has been or will be unpleasant or obnoxious during their lives. It is part of what the Bible states is our sinful nature. And the Bible is full of examples of humans just being unpleasant and obnoxious. Even a man God said had a heart after His own heart, was a bit of a creep. King David enticed another man’s wife to enter into a relationship with him while her husband was out fighting a war on the King’s behalf. Who of us wouldn’t look at King David and exclaim “You’re a creep!”? And yet God did not call King David a creep. God said of King David ‘Here is a man who has a heart liken unto the heart of God’. What a statement! But why, or how, could God say this about King David?

Christians know that when they are unpleasant or obnoxious, that while they may be viewed by the world as creeps or weirdos, they are, in fact, simply exhibiting a sinful nature brought into this world by the act of Adam in the Garden of Eden. And they should be reminded that Jesus Christ taught we should love not only our neighbors, but also our enemies: Matthew 5:43-48. And being unpleasant or obnoxious to anyone isn’t loving them.

The Radiohead song Creep paints a picture of a man who wants to appear as someone special to a lady whom he has affections for but knows that instead he is viewed as a creep and a weirdo by her. And so he asks the question “What the h*** am I doing here?” And in doing so misses a great opportunity. Rather than lamenting his condition, he might try what Christians do, and that is to ask for forgiveness. The resolution to being unpleasant or obnoxious is to go to the other person and ask for forgiveness.

Of course, many of us are reluctant to do that because of our fear of not being forgiven. And while we humans can be fickle and stingy with our forgiveness, God never is. God’s mercy and grace is more than sufficient for all of our sins.

And here is the amazing thing about God’s mercy and grace: that Jesus Christ would have died on the cross and rose again on the third day for only one single sin. If only one person, in all of human history, had only committed one sin in their entire lifetime, Jesus Christ would have still left His throne in heaven to come into the world and pay the penalty for that one sin with His own life.

And yet in doing so, He still would have paid the price for ALL the sins of everyone in ALL of human history. God’s mercy and grace is so amazing, so unfathomable, so miraculous, that Jesus Christ paid the full penalty for each and every one of your sins on the cross. You, personally. And me, personally. And everyone – individually – collectively – for a few sins – and for many sins.

You should never try and put God’s mercy and grace into a box. You would be foolish for trying. God’s mercy and grace extends to the lowest depths and the highest mountains. It reaches beyond the sky into the furthest reaches of the universe. It is personal enough to be just for you, and yet complete enough to be extended to me and everyone else.

God’s mercy and grace existed before time began and will still be here when this present Earth is no more. God’s mercy and grace is more than enough, more than sufficient, and yet just the right amount, the perfect measure, to totally and completely pay the price in full for all of your sins. It no longer matters that you have been unpleasant or obnoxious, or even a creep or a weirdo. Because God’s mercy and grace can forgive all.

The only thing you need to do is ask Him to be forgiven. And in order to do that, you must first believe on the name of Jesus Christ – that he came from God in heaven, was put to death upon a cross for the sins of the world and rose from the dead 3 days later and now intercedes for His own seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.

Am I a creep? No. I’m a sinner. But where my sins, they are many, the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ is so much more.