I finished reading Messy Spirituality today. It was probably the fastest book I’ve finished besides “The Barbarian Way” by Erwin McManus. I could have finished it a couple of days ago, but I have been delayed from reading it over the past few days due to my schedule.
Here are my final thoughts from chapters 3-8. I have selected random quotes that stood out to me during my read. There were more than this, but I only have room for a select amount:
* “Christianity shows itself most powerfully in the unnoticed life, the inconspicuous servant, the unrecognized saint, the invisible disciple.”
* “The body of Christ can be mean.”
* “It’s ironic: we stumble into a party that we weren’t invited to and find the uninvited standing at the door making sure no other uninviteds get in. Then a strange phenomenon occurs: as soon as we are included in the party because of Jesus’ irresponsible love, we decide to make grace “more responsible” by becoming self-appointed Kingdom monitors…”
* “Religious people love to hide behind religion. They love the rules of religion more than they love Jesus. With practice, Condemners let rules become more important than the spiritual life.”
* “Rejection. The paralyzing experience of disapproval, repudiation, exclusion, ostracism. Religion has been good at rejection. Rejection keeps us at arm’s length and stamps us with the label “loser.” Which should be good news for you and me because, guess what? Jesus is attracted to losers. Jesus’ losers are great candidates for spirituality.
* “Beware of Balance. Balance is a dangerous, illusionary characteristic and a temptress. Disguised as normal and sensible, it is silently destructive, crushing the unbalance of giftedness, taming the extremes of passion, smothering the raging fire of a genuine relationship with Jesus.”
* “What keeps many of us from growing is not sin but speed.”
*Speeding through life endangers our relationships and our souls.”
* “Give God 100 percent! Sounds very spiritual, but the truth is there is no such thing as 100 percent commitment.”
* God’s Grace is Unfair.” [My Note from the Section: Everyone receives the same quantity and quality of love and forgiveness, the “lifer” church member to the worst of sinners.]
“The body of Christ can be mean” Oh, isn’t that the truth. Shame too. We really shouldn’t be like that to non-believers, or to others in the body.
love that 100% commitment line and beware of balance
The body of Christ can be mean. We get so wrapped up in those close to us in our religious world that when someone else wants in, we push them out. Maybe that’s why I believe the way I do. I can’t get hurt, you can’t throw me to the wolves and I don’t need someone to be mean to me. Being mean has kept me from religion. Stop and think about it.
Dee,
The point of the book is not in support of religion. In fact it is very much anti-religion. Religion is a set of rules that dictate ones beliefs and how they worship in that belief. Although Christianity is considered a “religion” that is not they way Christ intended it to be.
It appears that you may have been hurt by a religious institution. I am sorry if that is the case. The body of Christ only becomes mean when they choose to love rules more than Jesus. Jesus hated rules, He was in favor of freedom, that is why He came to demolish the rules of religion. Religious leaders hated Jesus because he preached a love that was deemed unfair in the religious leaders eyes.
Check the book out for yourself, it may help you see Christianity in the pure form that Christ intended it to be, not what man has made it! Thank for the comment and the honesty!