As you probably have heard, we recently added a new family member at our home. She is not a human; rather she is a puppy, named Hazel, now about six months old. We can say she is almost housebroken. She still cannot let us know if she needs to go outside, but she can hold it until we let her outside. So we assumed she was under control. Well…let’s face it. Every dog owner knows that whenever you say “my dog is housebroken,” in fact it really isn’t. We’re going through that reality with Hazel at home.
A couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of having our son Chris visit from Japan. He had come home for his cousin Jonathan’s wedding. I had just come home from church, and as I was passing by the stairs that lead to the basement, I could smell something like the stench of rotting meat. So I asked Chris “Do you smell something?” And he said “No.” But when I looked down the stairs, I could see several chunks (11 to be exact) of dark brownish chopped off sausage like stuff strewn all over the small flat area half way down the stairs. You guessed it right. Those were Hazel’s poop. I usually get really irritated when something like that happens. But this was so out of character, totally unthinkable and unimaginable, my mouth just dropped and my brain literally became frozen. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t get mad either, and instead just started laughing. If you had seen it, you probably would’ve reacted the same way. I should’ve taken a picture of it before I cleaned it up.
I believe this how our loving God the Father would react whenever we make mistakes in our lives. I am sure that He just smiles and laughs when He sees our mistakes because He knows how incomplete and mistake-prone we are. Then some of you might ask, “Didn’t He say, be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect?” (Matt. 5:48). But God also said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). See, we only can be perfect through God’s grace which is in Jesus Christ. So God leaves us room to be human where we can make mistakes. In Jesus, God provides an environment where we can make mistakes so that we can learn from our mistakes and grow. Of course, our puppy Hazel had no clue about what she did and never will. Will she learn and grow through this experience? I will let you guess…
Often, people can become easily entangled with some absurd notion that people expect them not to make any mistakes. You must give yourself a break or others a break. Mistake-making is actually a part of growing up. Mistakes will happen for people to grow, develop, make changes, and become better and successful. And this is so true in the church all the more. We need to make sure we’re supporting a safe environment in the church that allows a little wiggle room. Growth cannot happen in a place where mistakes cannot be tolerated. If you only reward perfection, people won’t be willing to push beyond anything that’s not “safe,” which can be crippling. Plus, if you are constantly holding back to try to be perfect, you’re going to be under constant stress and there will be no joy in your life.
I believe God wants NCFC to have a safe environment where people can come and make mistakes and not be judged. When we see someone making mistake, we shouldn’t be mad at them or disappointed in them or criticize them harshly or wish God would punish them for their mistakes because our God isn’t like that. God is not mad at you. Sure, His brain may freeze for a moment, but He is always madly in love with you and won’t reject anyone who comes to Him. He is not waiting to punish you. Rather He wants you to come to Him and receive His abundant grace so that you can learn and grow from your mistakes. This is the environment that God wants to create in NCFC so that we can grow as a believing community, and in order to do so, we all need to be more gracious toward one another as our God is gracious to each one of us.
From Pastor Neil’s Heart
October 12, 2014