I had the pleasure of attending Mars Hill church in Grand Rapids this morning. Peter Rollins delivered the message. If either he or Mars Hill are new to you, Google them because a) you should and b) I’m too mentally drained to hit the link icon on here. One of us gets to be lazy right now, and I vote me.
His message was this: don’t change. We each are already accepted. Just as we are. We spend countless sleepless nights and wasted daytime hours trying to accept the fact that we are accepted. And we fail to believe it – over and over again. Even though we know better, our pasts have dictated otherwise, so we exert repeatable behaviors to our continued demise. Our continued, ridiculous, exhausting, saddening relational demise.
Here’s the rub. If we don’t choose to fully believe it (i.e. behave differently, as in be transformed), then we wreck our relationship with God. And if we don’t choose to fully believe it with others, we wreck our relationships with them.
Does anyone else’s head never quit? Like it’s a freaking tennis match and the volley is literally never going to cease?
I find myself playing the worst match of my life right now – trying to use this semblance of athleticism to run all over the court, left, right, front, back, faster, faster, get there! Seriously, just hit the stupid ball and score already!…instead of skillfully relying on the past knowledge that I have played tennis before and that even if I hit a terrible shot or throw multiple games because my head is directly up my rear, my partner still accepts me.
Peter Rollins started out his phenomenally delivered message by saying humans are a mess. It’s why there’s no such thing as “indogmane” or “incatmane” – only inhumane.
Maybe that’s why old single dudes end up with the proverbial man’s best friend and old single chicks end up with 30 cats.
Thank God I am not an animal lover.
