why is it that every time someone comes over to visit i feel the need to have my apartment clean? well shoot, i know a lot of people out there that are the same way. i'm pretty sure this is a rule in some sort of how to plan a get together with friends book out there. and i realize i do this because first i don't want people to see how messy i am (hence the closed bedroom door) and 2nd i am lazy at times. so i get frustrated and in a mad rush a half hour before people are coming over and clean up the apartment. it's not like i didn't know people were coming over in the first place. so the 3 roommates in a tiny apartment explode into robots or some sort and get the job done. it really doesn't take long, but it sure isn't exactly how our apartment looks all the time.
i then thought most of the time we go to church or house church with that same mentality of cleaning up ourselves before we walked in the door. it doesn't take a long time, we get frustrated at ourselves before hand, and we put on pretty clothes to cover up the filth in our own hearts. we clean our apartments/house the same way we clean ourselves up before we head out to church. we want to look good, make an impression, or in some cases hope that no one notices us. hmmm where is the church heading?
i know that i am more interested in people coming with dirt on their clothes, with tears in their eyes, etc. i want to be part of a church that doesn't feel the need to clean its act up prior to people arriving. i want to see the ugly and the good all together. i think that's beautiful and i want to live in that kingdom.
Monday, January 19, 2009
clean house?
Posted by Stumbling while running at 8:20 PM
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2 comments:
I heard a speaker not too long ago that encouraged NOT cleaning up entirely when you have people over. She called it the "ministry of mediocrity". If we constantly present ourselves as whole and perfect and having everything under control, then our guests will not only put us on a pedestal, but feel as though they are not as good as us, knowing the mess they have at home. The same goes for church. If we always present ourselves as whole and full of life when we really are dying inside, then others will see themselves as less than us. Making them begin to model themselves after people who are clean on the surface, but hiding our mess in the back bedroom, so to speak. It has really made me change the way I approach hospitality - Is it really hospitable to make people think I'm perfect, or am I setting them up for later failure? Thought provoking!
I'm glad that you "went to church" with your analysis. You know as I was ready about your house cleaning efforts, I was thinking...you know people do the same thing with God.
You know the impact of that effort...we don't get to see God working in our lives. HMMMM, we wonder why after going to church for years that WE don't change. Could it be that by pretending we're all ok, and that everything around us looks great and isn't a mess, God won't engage in working with us because we're too proud.
If it isn't safe to show fellow flesh and blood humans our faults, and patches of dirt...why would a pure and holy God want anything to do with them?
You know we make a real mess of things trying to be all clean and perfect. Funny but sad all at the same time!
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