Say Yes To The Mess (Guest Post)

Today’s guest post is by Shawn Seeley. He writes regularly on his blog.

Say Yes To The Mess…

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5.16 NLT)

I can’t remember how many times I’ve done this.

Afraid of being judged & condemned by people I perceived to be perfect, I was afraid to tell people what I struggled with.

What would they think? What would they say?

The example I had of “church people” before I became a Christian was confusing.

I’m sure you know what I mean—people who would mask the pain & struggles of their daily lives, hiding behind their Pan-Am smiles that tell you everything is just fine.

I wanted everything to be just fine, but hiding behind that fake smile wasn’t working.

The thing about hiding is that sooner or later, you’re found out.

Stressed out & afraid I couldn’t keep up the just fine smile anymore & because I didn’t have anyone at church I felt I could really be me around, I decided to give it one more try—in a life group.

As I spent time around these people, I noticed that I wasn’t alone—these were real people with real problems, just like me.

We met together every week to talk about the week, take off our just fine masks & openly admit that we were real people with real problems…& I had a real good time.

Community isn’t genuine if it’s not authentic (that’s my inner Yogi Berra coming out).

A book I read a while back (& have read several times since) might have said it better.

“One of the greatest gifts we can offer another person is a safe place to fail.” (TrueFaced)

That’s real community…a safe place to fail—together.

As Christians, we have to be willing to admit that we don’t have it all together, but we believe in the God who does & who loves us anyway.

Church isn’t a black & white, cut-&-dry collection of perfect people.

Church is a messy place for messy people who have said yes to the mess.

“The church that is prodigal friendly is both idealistic and realistic, committed to God’s standards and yet unsurprised by failure. The Bible is not the story of surgically-enhanced people of God, their defects and gaffs airbrushed out. Instead they are shown in their splendor and stupidity, warts, as they say, and all.” (Creating a Prodigal-Friendly Church)

James knew what real community was—a place where people were free to fail & be freely forgiven.

So what do you want?

A lifetime of stress & struggle hidden behind a just fine smile, or a chance to be open & honest with God, yourself & others?

I choose the latter & I’m inviting you to join me in saying yes to the mess of community.