We're a Total Mess

So - I was at church this morning. It was the end of the service and we were singing songs. I looked around and was really amazed for a moment that all of these people were believing in Jesus with me. That we were all singing to him in thanks for everything he did and continues to do. I was so grateful.

And my mind started to wonder...how did we all get here? All of these different people with different backgrounds and stories. Different parents and childhoods. Different scars and victories. The diversity is amazing.

But then - I started to think of the people who were not  here. So many people not attending any sort of Christ-centered gathering this week. It made me sad.

The thing is I know that there are many people more virtuous than us in homes nearby, within earshot of our jumbled and off-key voices. And so many of them don't know this Jesus. And they need him. Because though they are more virtuous than me, I'm not the standard - Christ is. And the stakes are high.

Mostly I just wish that all of those people would understand who we are and come to join us, because here's the big secret:

We're a total mess.

I know these people. I've been walking with this church family for over four years and I love them dearly. But I'm not kidding, we do not have life figured out. We wake up every day with struggles. I see these two people who are in bitter relational disagreement, striving to mend the relationship with grace. I see this guy going through a divorce. I see this guy struggling with pornography. I see these guys playing six hours of video games a day when I know God built them for so much more. There is insecurity and doubt. There is emotional disconnection with God and with the church family.

Don't get me wrong. God is certainly here. And things are most assuredly better than they would be without his Spirit helping us all to think differently and act differently in response. God changes lives. He restores people and helps us to prefer Himself over our sin. Christians are to be growing more and more like the Christ our religion is named after, the his Spirit does that by changing us from the inside out.

But we are not all put together. There are churches like that. Where people are religious and pretend to have everything all buttoned up into a neat little package. Maybe the people there really are way better at life than me. Either way - I don't fit in there. I'm part of this mess.

All I'm saying is that I wish you were there. I hope that you know that church is not for the people who have it all together, but for us - who are living in reality. It's a place for us to be taught by people who have been around the block a few more times, who know God's design for life a little bit better. It's a place to receive God's Spirit to help us in our time of need. It's a place for us to be honest about how life is really going - good or bad.

MORE THAN ANYTHING, it's the place where we can come to celebrate the spiritual transaction that took place of that single Roman cross 2000 years ago. Where Christ took upon himself all the junk that separates us from God, and gave us his perfection. So that even though we're a total mess - we understand that by faith in Christ, "God has made perfect those who are being made holy."

Those who are being made holy.

We're not there yet - but by God's grace we are striving for it. Won't you join us?

Thanks for reading.