Having a house full of kids does not tend to add to the neatness of a home. Even though we work every day to make sure they take care of what they get out, there is always something, either a craft, a sock, an errant toy, etc. Crabbing after them every minute just to keep things spotless is not a path to joy either.
This made me think of our church. When you have a lot of people there, and a lot of growing going on, things may get messy. I don't refer to whether the church is clean, but rather to how "put together" it is. I think we have a messy church. We don't run our services with pinpoint timing or high polish. We aren't a well oiled machine in terms of organizational structure or programming. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about being lazy or disorganized out of careless indifference, I just mean that when you put a whole lot of people together and let them grow and be real, it will usually lack polish. That's because real life and real people rarely fit into neat, clean, and orderly.
I'm thankful for that in our church. I am thankful that we pride the real over the impressive. I think it is important that above all else we be real and concentrate on people ahead of any "product" the church might produce. Sure, we could have auditions for special music and only let those who are impressive "perform". We could pass a dress code to make sure everyone keeps up appearances. We could shuffle all the kids away so that no errant cry interrupts our quiet atmosphere. Better yet, we could just make it clear that families with small babies are not welcome in the service. We could work hard to put on a flawless, impressive performance. It would be much "neater." Would it any longer be real? Would the hurting, the broken, the "messy" person feel any sense of belonging in such an artificial environment?
Like I said, I am thankful that we have a messy church. We have pastors and leaders with struggles. We have noisy children. We have lots of boots tracking in mud and lives that aren't always pretty to look at. When people share, its not because they're impressive, but because they wanted to offer what they have and are to Jesus. We are a messy people and we have a mess of people. Like our home, God is constantly cleaning and we are working on taking care of our "mess", but we are spiritual children, and our church is home. Home sweet home.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on." (Mark 12:43-44)
