How to Clean Up Spiritual Messes (at home & in life) - Rachel Jankovic
Updated: Oct 29, 2022
Video from Cannon Press
"On this week's Pep Talk for Moms, Rachel Jankovic talks about the mess of sin in the Christian Home. How do you recognize a spiritual mess? How should you deal with it? In this video, Rachel answers these questions. Check out Rachel's book on parenting, "Loving the Little Years," today! https://canonpress.com/products/lovin..." from video introduction.
Life in Christian community, the local church, in small groups, missional community, or wherever else you can name is messy. We have no quick fixes for the deep wounds in our lives: depression, anxiety, eating disorders, broken relationships, miscarriage, loneliness, unemployment, deteriorating health, wayward children, death of a parent, disability, etc.
There are some around us that are going down a dark path.
We in general don’t know what to say or do or how to engage, or how to help. Many step into the church community tentatively, secretly hoping it will not be messy, that it will be uplifting and easy. We want good friends and a loving community, and easy, comfortable, enjoyable conversations. But the reality is that every true Christ-centered community will have its difficulties and it will seldom if ever meet our ideal hopes.
Christian community as is life in general by necessity and design a messy place. We are sinners, the world is broken, and God is at work in the midst of it all. In the gospel story he has written, his grace and love shine more beautifully than ever in the messiness of our lives.
It is in the darkest moments of life that the gospel of Jesus Christ shines its brightest and most brilliant.
The tragic irony is that we hide from life, from each other and from Christ. Like Adam and Eve in the garden we are ashamed and believe we can hide form our Lord. We withdraw when things get complicated or require an investment on our part. We pull back when we’ve been offended or turn away when sin is exposed.
God does his best work in and through us when we commit to serve one another, especially when we run out of pat answers, quick fixes, and clichés. Our lives as broken and imperfect as they are can point others directly to Jesus and his cross.