The three of us stood there talking after service. It's what we do at my church. Little groups of people standing around throughout the sanctuary catching up and making plans and meeting new friends. I was speaking with a long-time friend and my sister-in-law. The long-time friend is one of our ministry leaders who has a passion for The Cure by Bill Thrall and Bruce McNicol.
I've read The Cure.
I didn't like it.
My sister-in-law is currently in one of our women's bible studies. They're studying The Cure. Long-time friend asked Sister-in-law what she thought. I started to feel oh-so-uncomfortable. What will I say if he asks me if I've read it? What do I say that is both supportive and honest? The next service was about to begin. We needed to move out. The moment passed. Whew.
On the drive home, my thoughts zeroed in on that conversation. Over the past ten years or so, I've read countless books with the same message as The Cure. It's not the message that I didn't like. I love the message. I just didn't like the way it was presented, but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water (as my mother used to say).
What 's the message? Be who God made you to be. I LOVE that! So simple. So hard. I mused: if I've been reading books with that message for years (Henri Nouwen, Brennan Manning, Brene Brown to name a few authors), and now The Cure is running rampant and changing lives, maybe, just maybe, God is in this.
So imagine this: a church - or a city - full of people who are content - no, not just content, happy, THRILLED - to be exactly the person God made him/her to be. No one comparing, no one one-upmanshipping, no insecurities, no shame, no keeping-up-with-the-Jones, no I'm-too-fat or I'm-too-skinny, or I-talk-too-much, or I-don't-talk-enough, no you're-too-fat or you're-too-skinny. No one pretending. No one faking it. No one passing judgment. Just people loving who we are and loving who everyone else is.
A people like that could change the world from the inside out.
I've read The Cure.
I didn't like it.
My sister-in-law is currently in one of our women's bible studies. They're studying The Cure. Long-time friend asked Sister-in-law what she thought. I started to feel oh-so-uncomfortable. What will I say if he asks me if I've read it? What do I say that is both supportive and honest? The next service was about to begin. We needed to move out. The moment passed. Whew.
On the drive home, my thoughts zeroed in on that conversation. Over the past ten years or so, I've read countless books with the same message as The Cure. It's not the message that I didn't like. I love the message. I just didn't like the way it was presented, but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water (as my mother used to say).
What 's the message? Be who God made you to be. I LOVE that! So simple. So hard. I mused: if I've been reading books with that message for years (Henri Nouwen, Brennan Manning, Brene Brown to name a few authors), and now The Cure is running rampant and changing lives, maybe, just maybe, God is in this.
So imagine this: a church - or a city - full of people who are content - no, not just content, happy, THRILLED - to be exactly the person God made him/her to be. No one comparing, no one one-upmanshipping, no insecurities, no shame, no keeping-up-with-the-Jones, no I'm-too-fat or I'm-too-skinny, or I-talk-too-much, or I-don't-talk-enough, no you're-too-fat or you're-too-skinny. No one pretending. No one faking it. No one passing judgment. Just people loving who we are and loving who everyone else is.
A people like that could change the world from the inside out.
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