In light of yesterdays post, I was reminded of another one of Jimmy Needham’s poems. Here is the link…
My favorite line is “this can’t be Christianity, it can’t be”
See the thing is that we all have this image of what Christianity is. But I can’t help but have this gut feeling that it sometimes becomes distorted or diluted. Like the way that an image looks after it keeps getting photocopied. A copy of a copy. After a while, the copy has more differences than similarities to the original.
And I am fine with that metaphor. But before you burn me at the stake, I simply want to clarify that it is the copy that gets changed… not the original.
What I love most about Jimmy’s poem is that he asks and answers a wonderful question:
Question: “Where’s the hope of a God big enough to cope with all of my hang-ups and insecurities?”
Answer: “There’s only one thing that pleases the Father, the God-man on the tree in the midst of the scoffers.”
I have shared with you that I often am tempted to despair. And, once again, I get tempted to despair at what I feel like Christianity is. But most often, what I feel like Christianity is turns out to be far from what it actually is. And it is times like these that I really need and appreciate reminders like Jimmy’s poem.
Is God personal? Does God care? Does God really know my insecurities? Does God care to save us? Does God forget how messed up I am? Does God really forgive? Is God really just? Is all this just a fairytale mess or more deeply real than we could imagine?
But here is the thing. My job isn’t to understand it all. The price has been paid and the path has been laid.
God doesn’t bind us to our doubts, questions and struggles… He releases us from them and sets us free.
The truth is… Love is liberating.
Deus misereatur “May God Have Mercy”
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