FLESH AND BLOOD


So here we go.

I think God made us different than we're willing to deal with.



Do you ever find yourself having a surprisingly human moment? Mine was a couple weeks ago in an Irish pub after Guiness and Yeungling, drinking in the sound of Irish folk sights and sounds with my roommate. The pub was quiet except for the party in the back corner having a racous good time. The music ... wow. 3 hours of authentic magic. Roommate Matt and I didn't need to talk much. We didn't. Distant looks were enough to bear up the weight of conversation. And boy, the beer was good. Had I had the inclination for a couple more, I probably would've told most of the people at the bar what I thought about it. Wood floors and rafters, the hint of cigarette smoke, and a stand-in 14-year-old fiddler. It was life and I was loving it. No being anything anything in that moment but happy, and God made it all.

It's good. Was. Is. Will be.

Most days I miss out on being human. I rarely delight in being created. Christians are humans, but I find that so many are convinced not to be. Talked out of the basics of life, it's so easy to circle the wagons because it's safe. Unfortunately the brave "enemy" emissary knows so much more than we do about flesh and blood. He'd show us if you'd quit insisting that he was going to shoot us.

We need to be real and whole.

We need to be like Jesus.

It's easier to be Christian than human when Christian is all you know and human is what you know nothing about. Jesus knew them both completely. Incredible.

I'm stuck on the island of my heart and mind most of the time. Moments outside myself being like cruise ships - it's a blast, but you don't know quite what to think. "Be yourself" sounds different right now. I'm a little less afraid to feel, to loosen up, to embrace, and look the weeping person in the face. Strength, purity, and testimony don't come from my ability to maintain a vacuum. God redeems me in the context of today. I must have Christ. I must have context. Full context. I don't want to be a redeemed mostly spiritual partial-person.

I want to be like Jesus.




So here we go.

"Paging redeemed humanity. Please come to the front of the store."