Oddly Chosen

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you…”
— John 15:16

Odd. Ugly. Weird. Homely. Fat. Skinny. Strange. Eccentric. Annoying. Repulsive. Loud. Silent. Obnoxious. These are generally not kind words to use when describing another person, so we don’t say them. We often think them though. One place that is readily apparent is watching audience reactions at nationally televised talent shows when someone who “doesn’t have the look of a star” takes the stage.

We see an odd individual take the stage and eyebrows raise, smirks are exchanged, giggles are stifled and everyone braces themselves for whatever is about to happen. When they do light up the stage with an amazing performance, mouths open in awe and thunderous applause fills the room. Those are some of the best performances. I believe we react so strongly to those types of performances because to some degree we see ourselves in some of the words I listed above. And those performances fill us with hope. If they can do something amazing, maybe we can too.

When it comes to Christ, as the song goes, everyone is “precious in His sight.” Unfortunately, all to often, we don’t have His sight, nor do we hold everyone as precious. Theologically we know we should, but we don’t. Neither are we precious in the sight of others. We are all odd in our own unique way. We all struggle with how others see us, because we know how we see others.

The few amazing performances that warm our hearts do so because those who take the stage show unbelievable talent. They overcome prejudices because they accomplish something few people can accomplish. They set themselves apart from the crowd through their talent, and in doing so the prejudices we held actually end up bolstering their standing in our minds.

But what if they didn’t have any talent? What if we don’t? Then our oddities become even more odd.

Praise God, we were oddly chosen! We weren’t chosen because of our talent. We weren’t chosen because we have something worthwhile to offer. We weren’t even chosen because of the love we have for God. And we certainly were not chosen because we chose Him! Jesus tells us in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…”.

Even with all our oddities, we were chosen. Chosen because we are precious in His sight. Chosen because He first loved us. Chosen because of who He is, and not based on who we are. Chosen for His pleasure and by His Grace. We are odd, and oddly chosen.

Jesus went on in John 15:16-17 to say, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.”

We weren’t chosen because of our abilities. We were chosen despite our inabilities and oddities. And we were appointed to “bear fruit,” but we don’t bear fruit because of our talent or abilities. We bear fruit because we were chosen and appointed. As Jesus says in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

The fruit comes from Him. He chose us and appointed us to be His. When we abide (live with Him), He works through our lives to produce fruit. He doesn’t do it so people will be amazed by us, or what we can do. He chose us so people might see Him in us. For us as Christians it is never about the accomplishments. It is always about Jesus. The One who accomplished all and said, “It is finished!”

The odd little man who is writing this devotion was oddly chosen by Jesus. I was chosen to know Him. I was chosen to love Him. I was chosen to love others. I was chosen to make Him known. I was chosen not to accomplish, but to simply be a vessel through which others can catch a glimpse of Him.

And you were oddly chosen too! Now the choice is ours. To either live for ourselves, or live for Him. And all those other odd people in the world, well, He finds them precious in His sight and we were oddly chosen to love one another.

© 2026 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.