harbarger theory: faith is messy.  life is, too.

Among most of us, there is a indefatigable need to make our lives simpler and less complicated.  Much less complicated.  I suspect that is part of what makes us civilized ... at least as much as most of us are!  

However, as someone who has the amazing opportunity to "look under the hood" of other folks' lives, I am here to tell you that everybody's lives are messy.  To be honest, I think that's the way life is supposed to be.  Life is supposed to be messy and we are supposed to try to sorta tidy it up a bit.  I think that's what living the good life is about ... especially when we can ALSO enjoy the messy parts, as well!!

As I read books about Church Life (surprised you there, eh?  I really do read those books!), I find that most of the authors think that they can develop a system in their church/my church/your church where folks' faithlives will have order, purpose and follow Step 1 to Step 2 to Step 3 to Nirvana or Mt Olympus or Heaven or wherever.  Poppycock, I say!  Poppycock!

Just as soon as I get my faith going in a straight line and follow all the road signs, things go kablooey at home or with the kids or with a debt or whatever.  While I don't believe that "Nature prefers entropy (or disorder, as it used to be defined)," I also don't believe that Nature (or God) prefers things to be always neat and tidy.  I believe that God likes things to have some spontaneity and surprise and struggle and delight.

You see, struggle allows us to become stronger.  That's the way we get stronger.  We struggle to lift a heavy barbell or walk 10 miles or swim a mile.  When we do that enough, we get stronger.  Strength is a good thing.  We all need lots and lots of all kinds of strength!

Spontaneity and surprise are what makes us laugh and are what produce joy.  When we see that magnificent sunset (and I've heard sunrises are nice, as well!), we clap, we find delight in the riot of colors.  When we come across a field of wildflowers, we marvel at the glory of nature.  When we stumble upon an alpine lake and see the mountain across the way reflected in it, we are brought to silence.  These are the gifts of spontaneity and surprise.  

These the UNtidy and UNneat things in our lives that make us better and feed our souls.  Even the struggles feed us by making us better and stronger, don't they?  

So, as we develop systems for folks to grow in their faith, let us allow for the messiness of faith and life in them.  Let there be some elasticity in how we experience the presence of God and how we respond to the slings and arrows of life.  Sometimes, we get ticked off (didn't Moses?), sometimes we are cowardly (didn't Peter?), sometimes we rise to the occasion (didn't Shadrack, Meshack and Off-to-bed-we-go?).  But, in the end, even the wrong response is not necessarily a faithkiller.  Sometimes, even the wrong responses become touchstone events in our lives that allow us to make quantum leaps in our faith.

So, give yourself a break.  Allow yourself to have messy parts of your faith.  Allow yourself to have messy parts of your life.  Allow yourself to simply seek the presence of God on a consistent basis and you ... will ... get ... there.

And I promise to jump into the messiness with you.  As the inimitable Red Green is want to say, as he is tying a fishing fly, "We're all in this together!"

harbarger theory: faith is messy. life is, too!