One of the greatest influences on my early Christian years was a man named Mike Yaconelli. Google him if you want to know more about him- a giant among midgets and one of the most authentic Christians I've ever met. Well, actually, I only met him once. I met him more through his books, writings, and love for youth ministers which I was at the time.
I believe my favorite quote of his, from his book Messy Spirituality is this: "Jesus is not repelled by us, no matter how messy we are, regardless of how incomplete we are. When we recognize that Jesus is not discouraged by our humanity, is not turned off by our messiness, and simply doggedly pursues us in the face of it all, what else can we do by give in to His outrageous, indiscriminate love?" (Messy Spirituality, p 27)
In my early years as a Christian, I was haunted by legalism. It wasn't a legalism I imposed on others; it was a legalism I imposed on myself. I was never a person to do anything halfway- if I was going to party, I was going to party all the way. If I was going to play soccer, I was going to play soccer all the way. If I was going to be a Christian, I was going to be one all the way.
I threw 100% of myself into my faith, but unlike other pursuits, I came up woefully short of where I wanted to be. For as long as I have been a Christian, I have wanted to be faithful. I've wanted to trust God with everything, and I have wanted to avoid the sin that put Him on the cross. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to live a life of sacrifice, of service; I've wanted to care for the "least of these" as Jesus commands. To my knowledge, I've never looked at something Jesus said and said, "That's awful, that's bad, that's not something I am ever going to do."
There have been several times I've considered giving up my faith- not because of a doubt of God's existence, or because I didn't want to be faithful, or even because I didn't think God loved me. The times I have considered giving up my faith were the times when it just seemed like it was impossible to live the life. I was so afraid of being called a "hypocrite," which is the word that hypocrites use to describe other hypocrites when the other hypocrites don't live out what they believe 100% of the time even though the first set of hypocrites, who like to call other hypocrites "hypocrites," aren't living out what they believe 100% of the time either.
Mike helped me understand that Jesus takes messy people like myself and not only loves us but allows us to accomplish His will . . . . in spite of ourselves. I began reading the Bible with new eyes. The heroes of the faith- Noah, Abraham, David, Peter, Paul, John, all of the people whose faith I was taught to emulate, were incredibly messy people.
Noah's story is probably one of the most popular and well-known stories in the world. Noah's great faithfulness and courage and righteousness have been chronicled and told and magnified for the last five thousand years. He was the only one seen as righteous by God- by faith he built the ark, stayed true to God, and was forever remembered as the bastion of godliness we all know him to be.
Most of us don't know what happened next. Sunday school teachers and preachers don't like to focus on the latter part of Noah's life because it tells a very different story.
Noah went out from the ark and saw the destruction. Everything he knew was gone. Everyone he knew- friends, neighbors- all dead and gone. He was probably struck by the loneliness of it all. The grief and anguish he felt must have been unbearable. The Bible tells us that he planted a vineyard and got drunk. Drunk? Noah?
Yes. Noah was human. He was messy. I guess dealing with all the pain and loss was too much for even this great man of faith. I love the fact that the Bible allows us to see that even great men of faith struggle and mess up. Sometimes they mess up big time. Yet, the Bible doesn't edit their stories or write them out of God's story.
Here's the good news to all who impose legalism on themselves like I did: you won't be written out of God's story because of your humanity either. God is not repelled by the messiness of life. He's not repelled by your humanity, by your struggles, by your weaknesses, or by what you would consider "bad." On the contrary, could it be that our humanity is what God finds especially attractive? Could it be that our failings are the things that He wants to forgive, mend, and demonstrate His glory and goodness through?
The greatness of God is on full display when He dives into the messiness of life and redeems it. God is not finished with you yet, no matter what you are dealing with. He is not repulsed by your addictions, by your repeated sins, by your attitude, by your temper, or by your mistakes. There will never be a time that you will shock God- believe me, He's seen it all and He loves you anyway.
He is great enough and wise enough to know that only love can change people. It is His love that calls us to Him, away from the things that destroy us, away from toxic lines of thinking, away from addictions that kill us and our relationships, away from sin that leads us to separation. His love. He is interested in the whole you- not the presentable you that you like to project when you walk out the door, or the fake you that you present to your "friends" on facebook, or the acceptable you that society says you must be. He is interested in all of you- the real you, unedited, uncensored, messy, and raw.
As a matter of fact, that's the only you He really cares about.
And I thank God for that. To some, the fact that God is not repulsed by our humanity is scandalous. To me, it demonstrates His greatness. To me, God becomes more precious, more wonderful, more amazing, more beautiful, more powerful, more worthy of worship, than ever before. Realizing that I can truly be myself- not some brushed-up presentable version of myself that everyone else wants me to be- in God's presence is the most liberating, joyful thing I can imagine.
So, be encouraged today. I don't know what you are dealing with today, but just know this: Jesus is not repelled by us, no matter how messy we are." God bless you, Mike Yaconelli. Thanks for helping me understand Jesus a little bit better.
I believe my favorite quote of his, from his book Messy Spirituality is this: "Jesus is not repelled by us, no matter how messy we are, regardless of how incomplete we are. When we recognize that Jesus is not discouraged by our humanity, is not turned off by our messiness, and simply doggedly pursues us in the face of it all, what else can we do by give in to His outrageous, indiscriminate love?" (Messy Spirituality, p 27)
In my early years as a Christian, I was haunted by legalism. It wasn't a legalism I imposed on others; it was a legalism I imposed on myself. I was never a person to do anything halfway- if I was going to party, I was going to party all the way. If I was going to play soccer, I was going to play soccer all the way. If I was going to be a Christian, I was going to be one all the way.
I threw 100% of myself into my faith, but unlike other pursuits, I came up woefully short of where I wanted to be. For as long as I have been a Christian, I have wanted to be faithful. I've wanted to trust God with everything, and I have wanted to avoid the sin that put Him on the cross. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to live a life of sacrifice, of service; I've wanted to care for the "least of these" as Jesus commands. To my knowledge, I've never looked at something Jesus said and said, "That's awful, that's bad, that's not something I am ever going to do."
There have been several times I've considered giving up my faith- not because of a doubt of God's existence, or because I didn't want to be faithful, or even because I didn't think God loved me. The times I have considered giving up my faith were the times when it just seemed like it was impossible to live the life. I was so afraid of being called a "hypocrite," which is the word that hypocrites use to describe other hypocrites when the other hypocrites don't live out what they believe 100% of the time even though the first set of hypocrites, who like to call other hypocrites "hypocrites," aren't living out what they believe 100% of the time either.
Mike helped me understand that Jesus takes messy people like myself and not only loves us but allows us to accomplish His will . . . . in spite of ourselves. I began reading the Bible with new eyes. The heroes of the faith- Noah, Abraham, David, Peter, Paul, John, all of the people whose faith I was taught to emulate, were incredibly messy people.
Noah's story is probably one of the most popular and well-known stories in the world. Noah's great faithfulness and courage and righteousness have been chronicled and told and magnified for the last five thousand years. He was the only one seen as righteous by God- by faith he built the ark, stayed true to God, and was forever remembered as the bastion of godliness we all know him to be.
Most of us don't know what happened next. Sunday school teachers and preachers don't like to focus on the latter part of Noah's life because it tells a very different story.
Noah went out from the ark and saw the destruction. Everything he knew was gone. Everyone he knew- friends, neighbors- all dead and gone. He was probably struck by the loneliness of it all. The grief and anguish he felt must have been unbearable. The Bible tells us that he planted a vineyard and got drunk. Drunk? Noah?
Yes. Noah was human. He was messy. I guess dealing with all the pain and loss was too much for even this great man of faith. I love the fact that the Bible allows us to see that even great men of faith struggle and mess up. Sometimes they mess up big time. Yet, the Bible doesn't edit their stories or write them out of God's story.
Here's the good news to all who impose legalism on themselves like I did: you won't be written out of God's story because of your humanity either. God is not repelled by the messiness of life. He's not repelled by your humanity, by your struggles, by your weaknesses, or by what you would consider "bad." On the contrary, could it be that our humanity is what God finds especially attractive? Could it be that our failings are the things that He wants to forgive, mend, and demonstrate His glory and goodness through?
The greatness of God is on full display when He dives into the messiness of life and redeems it. God is not finished with you yet, no matter what you are dealing with. He is not repulsed by your addictions, by your repeated sins, by your attitude, by your temper, or by your mistakes. There will never be a time that you will shock God- believe me, He's seen it all and He loves you anyway.
He is great enough and wise enough to know that only love can change people. It is His love that calls us to Him, away from the things that destroy us, away from toxic lines of thinking, away from addictions that kill us and our relationships, away from sin that leads us to separation. His love. He is interested in the whole you- not the presentable you that you like to project when you walk out the door, or the fake you that you present to your "friends" on facebook, or the acceptable you that society says you must be. He is interested in all of you- the real you, unedited, uncensored, messy, and raw.
As a matter of fact, that's the only you He really cares about.
And I thank God for that. To some, the fact that God is not repulsed by our humanity is scandalous. To me, it demonstrates His greatness. To me, God becomes more precious, more wonderful, more amazing, more beautiful, more powerful, more worthy of worship, than ever before. Realizing that I can truly be myself- not some brushed-up presentable version of myself that everyone else wants me to be- in God's presence is the most liberating, joyful thing I can imagine.
So, be encouraged today. I don't know what you are dealing with today, but just know this: Jesus is not repelled by us, no matter how messy we are." God bless you, Mike Yaconelli. Thanks for helping me understand Jesus a little bit better.
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