Brief interruptions...
I know I'd been doing this series of posts on "Problems with God" but, as life has a way of doing, it interrupts our best laid plans. My interruption wasn't pretty, nor has it been fun, but it was something that made me think, a lot.
Our lives are filled with interruptions, but it's how we respond that makes us who we are. Some interruptions are good things: marriage, kids, good news, church, etc. Other interruptions are bad things: our screw ups, others screw ups, death, sickness, grief, church, etc. But, each interruption leads us to a place where we must change. When our life is interrupted, the path we were on can be returned to, but we will not be the same because of that momentary (or momentous) interruption. We'll unpack some interruptions and where they lead as well as Jesus' response to life's little interruptions.
First, the interruption in my life most recently dealt with someone else's screw up. Yeah, that screw up affected me, but it really went back to the person who had done it. The thing is, after this person's screw up I've been faced with some realities: number one, things are not the same; number two, real forgiveness is hard; number three, it's much easier to condemn and push aside than to rebuke and restore. These three realizations are what led me to this post: my life is very different, not because of any choice I made or didn't make, but because someone else's choice led to an interruption in my life. This has been a chance for me to react to a situation the way Jesus would. I'm not sure how I have, but it's given me the chance to forgive and tell someone to "go and sin no more." It's also given me the chance to work towards restoration after the stinging rebuke that had to be there.
As to how I reacted, my only explanation is the grace of God experienced in my own life and my long list of screw ups, have allowed me to behave in an understanding way. Nothing humanly could prepare or allow for behavior this way, because the human reaction is anger and disassociation. But, the way God calls us to live is as a community of screw ups who by God's grace have been justified simply because a perfect man died in our place. Realizing that, we see that no one is outside of our communion no matter what they have done. It's not rationalizing sin or accepting sin, but loving, forgiving, helping, and accepting the sinner. Without that fact, the church becomes nothing but a bunch of plastic people going to a building with a plastic steeple to talk about how they're perfect people. That thought disgusts me, but many people look at it that way: Mark Hall of Casting Crowns speaks of growing up in the perfect church, "Everyone prayed for sickness, cancer, and things like that. No one ever struggled with envy, lust, lying, or anything like that. That's why I say I grew up in a perfect church." (paraphrase of his statement by me). I don't like being somewhere where people aren't real. It hurts to find out that people aren't real when you have an issue, because then all they are interested in is giving you the boot as you're messing up their perfect little world.
Jesus was always open to interruption. Think about when Jairus' daughter was dying: Jesus stops in the middle of a HUGE crowd to ask, "Who touched me?" and then waits until the lady actually steps forward. During this interruption, Jairus' daughter dies. Talk about a bad time to have waited, you think. But Jesus is nonplussed by the news they bring and continues on after completely changing a life in the process. Then he moves on in to the downside of the interruption and makes it a positive by bringing the girl back to life. This is the model we have for how to deal with interruptions, to stop do everything we can there, then return to our path changed.
Think about it...
Our lives are filled with interruptions, but it's how we respond that makes us who we are. Some interruptions are good things: marriage, kids, good news, church, etc. Other interruptions are bad things: our screw ups, others screw ups, death, sickness, grief, church, etc. But, each interruption leads us to a place where we must change. When our life is interrupted, the path we were on can be returned to, but we will not be the same because of that momentary (or momentous) interruption. We'll unpack some interruptions and where they lead as well as Jesus' response to life's little interruptions.
First, the interruption in my life most recently dealt with someone else's screw up. Yeah, that screw up affected me, but it really went back to the person who had done it. The thing is, after this person's screw up I've been faced with some realities: number one, things are not the same; number two, real forgiveness is hard; number three, it's much easier to condemn and push aside than to rebuke and restore. These three realizations are what led me to this post: my life is very different, not because of any choice I made or didn't make, but because someone else's choice led to an interruption in my life. This has been a chance for me to react to a situation the way Jesus would. I'm not sure how I have, but it's given me the chance to forgive and tell someone to "go and sin no more." It's also given me the chance to work towards restoration after the stinging rebuke that had to be there.
As to how I reacted, my only explanation is the grace of God experienced in my own life and my long list of screw ups, have allowed me to behave in an understanding way. Nothing humanly could prepare or allow for behavior this way, because the human reaction is anger and disassociation. But, the way God calls us to live is as a community of screw ups who by God's grace have been justified simply because a perfect man died in our place. Realizing that, we see that no one is outside of our communion no matter what they have done. It's not rationalizing sin or accepting sin, but loving, forgiving, helping, and accepting the sinner. Without that fact, the church becomes nothing but a bunch of plastic people going to a building with a plastic steeple to talk about how they're perfect people. That thought disgusts me, but many people look at it that way: Mark Hall of Casting Crowns speaks of growing up in the perfect church, "Everyone prayed for sickness, cancer, and things like that. No one ever struggled with envy, lust, lying, or anything like that. That's why I say I grew up in a perfect church." (paraphrase of his statement by me). I don't like being somewhere where people aren't real. It hurts to find out that people aren't real when you have an issue, because then all they are interested in is giving you the boot as you're messing up their perfect little world.
Jesus was always open to interruption. Think about when Jairus' daughter was dying: Jesus stops in the middle of a HUGE crowd to ask, "Who touched me?" and then waits until the lady actually steps forward. During this interruption, Jairus' daughter dies. Talk about a bad time to have waited, you think. But Jesus is nonplussed by the news they bring and continues on after completely changing a life in the process. Then he moves on in to the downside of the interruption and makes it a positive by bringing the girl back to life. This is the model we have for how to deal with interruptions, to stop do everything we can there, then return to our path changed.
Think about it...
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