MESSED UP?
Our Pastor has a phrase I love. He says, “We are a messed up people, living in a messed up world”. It isn’t phrased in theological terms but it cuts to the heart of the matter.
I am “messed up”. Most of the problems I have had in life were not of God’s making but of my own making. I “messed up” my own life and the lives of those I came in contact with. I will not belabor this but look at your own life honestly and you will probably come to the same conclusion. Well maybe not. If you don’t and think you are the way you should be then it is possible that you are really “messed up”. I don’t have to look at myself or the people I know for long to see we are “messed up”.
Then he goes on to say that we live in a “messed up” world. I can’t explain a baby born with severe problems mentally or physically. I do know that a lot of the “messing up” is caused by us humans. What we do to one another. What we do to our environment. What we do to our political systems and other systems. What we would not dream of doing to one another personally we do to one another through our systems and feel no regret. Even our religious systems.
Most of us are messed up enough that we can not handle power at whatever level we have it. We attempt to rule over one another at home, at church, at work, on the playground, in politics on the Internet and Facebook. It’s no wonder that leaders on national levels have problems. Women have a problem with men who are in power or position.
Theologically we would probably refer to the condition as SIN. I like “messed up” better. Sin brings to mind rules and laws. “Messed up” seems to point toward relationship. We can keep the rules and still be “messed up”. Check out Matthew 23:23 GNB How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practice, without neglecting the others.
Yep, I am “Messed up”. Yep, I live in a “Messed Up” world. But, Jesus came “to set things right.”
Part 2 “Jesus Came To Set Things Right” is coming.