December 6, 2022

Sometimes the path looks right, but leads nowhere

I've known hundreds of people who, on the recommendation from some self-help or positive thinking guru, have covered their bathroom mirrors with phrases of affirmation. Looking into the mirror, and then seeing a positive statement is supposed to increase one's belief and faith that change is coming. We all want to grow and become all that we can become. The question is, what actually transforms us? Have we taken a detour on the path of transformation and gotten stuck in an endless loop of trying and failing or succeeding only to find out we are right back where we started?

So - we've thought maybe something different should be tried? The book sections for "how to have a better life" or "how to find peace" or "how to ________" are filled with attempts at leading a reader on a path, that may work or may not, but really, not much changes. We've filled our lives with not very helpful detours on a path of transformation. These detours seem good and take us on a journey, but we end up lost and back where we started - All the time...

Grace is ever before you, beckoning you to lay aside what is behind you and embrace what God says is true. But embracing the truth is also realizing that the way through is the way of the cross. For us to move forward, we need to look forward - not to some self-help system or declarations about how great the future is going to be. Look forward to the One who is both the Author and the Perfecter of our faith. It is in connection to God that we find our real, created identity and can lay aside the things that hold us back. Grace allows us to acknowledge our failings, knowing that in the acknowledgement of how we've failed, we actually are now free to hear the truth. The truth is - you are not good enough - you are not going to make it - you can never get yourself cleaned up enough to be worthy of God's love. BUT! The truth is even in that state of disrepair and missed opportunities, God says "I choose YOU!" "I want to make you my son or daughter" "I want to make you new". That, is grace.

The problem is that we've built systems and communities around being right, being good, and doing what we think the standards tell us to do. Or, we gather together and try to recreate something that seemed meaningful to past Christians, but don't understand where their hearts were when The Spirit brought meaning to the activity. None of that actually transforms us and many times it makes us believe one of two lies: That God wants us cleaned up before He sees us... Or That God doesn't really care about our messed up lives and grace means that He simply tolerates our sin. Both are lies and both cause us to shy away from the one thing that could set us free. But, our churches and faith communities unfortunately don't have good experience in walking in true grace with one another. There is hope though - God is offering a reset - a reboot and re-calibration of our worldview and understanding of His work. It's right there in front of us.

It is in looking right at the failings we know are there, and not hiding from them, or covering them up, that we have a chance at true freedom. Look at you life and say - "Yep, it's that bad..." And then look at the Lord and say "Yep, it's that bad...." And trust that Jesus sacrificed for it. Every day, we have a chance to go to our Great High Priest, and acknowledge our plight, and be re-connected to God. It is in this looking right at our selves and our stuff, and knowing that God already sees it, that we can start. Grace really does begin to give us hope. Hope that maybe what's behind us will no longer define us, but WHO is ahead of us will.

Every person in the world needs to be connected to a community of grace, where the truth about God's Hesed love is repeatedly trained into us. Every person needs a group of God-Connected people who can help them understand that Grace can train us to set aside sin, and set us free to walk in newness of life. The Church can quickly become the force for expanding God's Kingdom if we simply began to build real, powerful communities of grace.

We would be honored if you visited and began the journey of discovering how church can be different, and because of that - life itself can be different. - THIS TUESDAY 6:30 PM - The Fireside Room at the main office area - The Heartland Center MAP HERE

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