Blessed are the Misfits

A few years ago we did a book study on Blessed Are the Misfits: Great News for Believers who are Introverts, Spiritual Strugglers, or Just Feel Like They're Missing Something by Brant Hansen. Brant is multi award radio personality who has Asperger syndrome and nystagmus (an eye condition). The book is a fun, fast read written by a very interesting individual. 

What surprised me at the book study was not just how many attended, but that with the wide array of ages, backgrounds and personalities, every person self identified as a misfit. Theologically that shouldn’t surprise me. Jesus said he came for the sick, not the healthy. But there is something about brokenness that we want to distance ourself from, not just in others, but in ourselves, in our past.

Mike Crawford addressed that last Sunday in a very powerful message about the need to interact with our past, drawing from the lives of Paul, Jacob and Joseph. Have you noticed there don’t seem to be any ‘whole’ people in the Bible? All the Biblical heroes are flawed. And yet it’s still a struggle to admit to my brokenness, past and present.

In one sense I get it. My brokenness is painful, shameful. There is no joy in dwelling on it. I’d much rather close my eyes and pretend it never happened, or isn’t presently happening. But Jesus doesn’t seem content with that. Maybe it has to do with him being light - by nature he exposes darkness. Although I think it has to do much more with him being redeemer - he comes to make what’s broken whole.

This is vividly displayed in his earthly life. He spends the majority of his time in Galilee of the Gentiles, even Samaria, with fisherman, tax collectors, prostitutes and “sinners” - those who are known by their wrongs. That’s where Jesus is. That’s where Jesus goes.

For the polished and the pristine this is not just distasteful, it’s offensive, and it is called out at many a social gathering Jesus attends. But Jesus is unmoved. He who created this world perfect, declared it all “Good,” and saw it decimated by sin, every square inch of it, has not turned back, has not shied away. He comes into the heart of it to restore and reclaim. It’s just who he is.

When you are around someone who is truly comfortable with your brokenness, you are more able to face it as well. You already know what is true and good. It’s written on our consciences no matter how we work to distort or suppress it. Facing the truth of our brokenness - that’s what’s hard.

I was talking with someone yesterday about achieving victory over a shaming sin, and I sloppily commented: “Too bad there’s no silver bullet.” To which the person wisely responded, “Oh, there’s a silver bullet, but what is required is patience.” 

I had to reflect on that a bit. The pure shed blood of the Son of God is a silver bullet that will slay any demon, deal with any sin, redeem every past, but it works on a timeline separate from ours.

"Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."  (1 Cor 6:9-11)

There are two “were’s” in the paragraph. They were sinners. They were sanctified. In the next paragraph, Paul will exhort believers to flee sexual immorality, and yet they were (past tense) sanctified. Two timelines? Maybe an apt image is not a silver bullet, but a blood dart. The blood of Jesus has pierced our heart. We’re as good as done. It will spread and effect our emotions, thoughts, words, and deeds. 

In this time-space world it is glorious seeing transformation in the saints of God. And in my own struggles I have come to learn that Jesus has not changed. He continues to come close to brokenness. He does not draw back from my taint. He is there to actively restore, redeem and make ALL things new. It’s who he is. It’s what he does.