How good... Grace at Work

I spent the last few days outside the Twin Cities in MN at a music festival called Higher Ground. It was a wonderful couple days - lots of great music, beautiful weather, and I spent the time there with three of my best friends, so it was a wonderful outing. I got to hear MercyMe play live for the first time, and if you haven't heard of them, or haven't heard their newest CD, "Coming Up To Breathe," you should check them out. Among the other artists there were Monk and Neagle, Mark Schultz, Joy Williams, Natalie Grant, and Denver and the Mile High Orchestra. I'd also encourage you to check out some of those artists as well.

The weekend was a powerful one and I left feeling rejuvinated...I love music and I love hearing it live and singing along with the hundreds of other people that come to the concerts. During the second day of concerts, I got a chance to hear a couple of speakers from the MN Teen Challenge choir. One of them shared a message about their past history of smoking and drinking, and at one point during his story said, "and even after I was born again, I still continued to smoke and drink for about the next 4 years." Though this statement may not seem like anything noteworthy or out of the ordinary, it is something I have thought about more than once over the past couple of months. While at a set of classes in the twin cities, I heard a story of a man who had a problem with alcoholism, but, at one point during his life, had met someone who had introduced him to Christ, gotten him to start reading the Bible, and had helped him get his spiritual life back on track. However, despite all of this, he remained an alcoholic, and if memory serves, even eventually died from it. He was a man that had likely read the Bible through cover to cover, perhaps several times, had a personal relationship with God, and yet, was an alcoholic. Yet another story that came to my attention, though slightly different in nature, was from the book Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli. It recounted a comment that he had made regarding someone he considered to be a godly woman, despite the fact that the woman smoked and swore. The people he had said that to couldn't understand how a woman that did such things could be considered "godly."

Now, I realize that this was sort of a roundabout way to get to my point, but nonetheless, I have arrived at it. Each of these people had their vices, but each of them was still living as good a Christian life as each of them could in their circumstances, and in some cases, probably had a stronger faith life than some of their less-afflicted counterparts. However, understanding this and viewing their lives as Christian lives requires a much different perspective on Christianity and the age old question of what is "good enough" (which, incidentally, may be the wrong question to ask). I often feel a lot of times that I am more at ease around people who don't seem to quite have everything figured out, I think probably because I know that I myself am nowhere close to having my own faith completely figured out. Viewing "incomplete and unfinished" Christians (myself included in this category) as Christians requires a different outlook, and a different understanding of what is "pious" and "correct" living. It also means that we have to learn how to be aware and understanding of our faults and those of others, but not be content with leaving them where they are. This is a delicate line to walk--and often a difficult hill to climb.

So, can our incomplete, broken, falling short selves be capable of praising and worshipping the God who created us? I think the answer is yes...and I think those praises are often some of the most genuine and passionate praises that exist.