Messy Jesus

The religious leaders were pestering Jesus’s friends with ‘innocent’ questions that aren’t innocent at all. They were full of daggers. They ‘asked’: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” - Matthew 19:11

Jesus overheard the conversation and freely identified himself with the messy people - On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” - Matthew 19:12-13

On Sunday, one of our elders shared a bit of her story. Now a board member, she’d never thought she would be chosen for such a leadership position in a church. That’s because she’d been regularly hurt by the church and rejected by Christians.

You can hear a remarkable 90-second clip of it HERE. In it she talks about how instead of finding rejection in Christ, she’s found acceptance. Here’s how she puts it:

I grew up in a space where in order to be with Jesus you had to pretend you were perfect. You had to get up on Sundays and pretend all this chaos wasn’t happening. But I realized I don’t want to do that. I want to do the messy Jesus.

Now I look at my relationship with Jesus like my relationship with my wife. When I make mistakes with my wife, I don’t get kicked out of the house. You know, I’m gonna screw up and Jesus is not going to kick me out of his house. He’s going to bring me back in to experience love and connection again.

In what ways do you identify with the messy people? How do you need a Jesus who is willing to get messy with you?