Misrepresenting the Message

I had a my first big project due today. And well, let’s just say it didn’t go so well. I was stressed and practically pulling my hair out. I thought about all the denial I was in… when I should have asked for an extension. It’s all about being professional, ya know? But here I was, completely mucking it up. So I spoke with my manager… and I talked with my director, I was expecting wrath… disappointment… but instead, they said, “It’ll be ok.”… “It’s your first big project.”… Kinda like they expected something along these lines. I expected wrath… I expected to get fired or something along those lines. But you know what? I got Grace.

It got me really thinking about all the things I’ve screwed up… and I think the only one I really, really regret is screwing up my witness. Not representing God’s love to everyone. Misrepresenting grace. Forgetting about mercy… So here’s my attempt once again to witness about the Big Man Upstairs.

== The REAL deal ==

Lemme lay down the gospel for you. For those who think they’ve heard it all… listen up, we need to hear it again.

GOD LOVES YOU.

I’m a sinning, lying, impure, proud, stupid, stiff-necked, unloving and greedy bastard. (I would know this better than anyone else.)
guess what?

GOD STILL LOVES ME.

You know all those dark parts of your life that no one else knows about? God knows. You know all those evil things lurking in your mind and heart? Yes, He knows about those too…

GOD STILL LOVES YOU.

Nothing you do can lessen God’s fierce, undoctored, unrestrained LOVE for you…

(And that little voice in the back of my head says: “But what about sin?”) It is true, the wage of sin is death. When I sin, the penalty is death. Sin separates us from God. It’s like taking a beautiful rose… and snipping it off of the bush. We’re broken. Inside myself, I can see this very clearly. The good things I really want, I can’t do. The bad things I want to avoid, I keep falling into… Anyone who’s tried to be “good”… even by their internal set of morals will find themselves falling short. When something is broken, there can only be two choices… FIX it or DISCARD it.

SO GOD CAME DOWN TO FIX THINGS UP WITH US.

He wants more than just to give life… but the good life, the life worth living. He wants to give us blessings that we will not misuse. He wants to heal our hurts and to meet us where we are. He came bearing love, truth, grace and mercy. Everyone knows, when you want to fix something… there’s a price to pay. Whether it be parts… or labor. And He knew… there was only one way to bring it. The price was paid in blood, pain and sacrifice.

SO HE DIED FOR US.

What do you say about a God that comes down and opens the door to the way everlasting: The place of eternal rest and the party that never ends? Where friends never say goodbye? Where sin is no more. Death is history. and God himself is with us.

There is nothing any one of us can do to add or detract from God’s awesome justifying work through the life, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is a way home. God forgive me if I ever, ever misrepresent this message: A message of grace, love and mercy. God’s calling us home.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.