The Accepted Rabble

“If we know how great is the love of Jesus for us we will never be afraid to go to Him in all our poverty, all our weakness, all our spiritual wretchedness, and infirmity. Indeed, when we understand the true nature of His love for us, we will prefer to come to Him poor and helpless. We will never be ashamed of our distress. Distress is to our advantage when we have nothing to seek but mercy. We can be glad of our helplessness when we really believe that His power is made perfect in our infirmity.”
-Thomas Merton
Thoughts In Solitude

We fight so hard to hide our weaknesses and neediness. Let me speak for myself: I fight tooth and nail to conceal anything I think others will identify as weak and pitiful. I have a preoccupation with my faults and blemishes. I want to seek and destroy them before they bring down the house of cards I construct as my persona. I cannot help believing I am not the only one working so hard to be pleasing and wanted by others. Why else is the “self-help” section at bookstores so large? I get the feeling most of us would like to dismiss what we find weak and “less than.”

I have a difficult time believing people who say they wouldn’t change anything about themselves or their past. My arrogance leads me to believe such people are worse off than the rest of us who freely admit we would if given the chance, gladly nip and tuck the bits of ourselves we despise. But it’s hard to accept, much less be kind to yourself when you wish to banish or overhaul some portion of the person looking back at you from the mirror. But does it have to be this way?

If we believe we have to “get better” to be acceptable to God, we will always have some level of contempt for ourselves. And at some point, we will begin to detest God for his standards that are impossible to reach. While God does indeed have the standard of perfection that separates, he does not stand at a distance from us. We will scorn ourselves and God for making some “better version” of ourselves unobtainable unless we find a way to see Jesus as the standard-bearer who is not only our example to follow but also the fulfillment of impossible standards.

If we begin to see Jesus as the perfect fulfillment of our weaknesses and brokenness, we no longer need to hide and hate ourselves when we feel God’s gaze fall on us. If Jesus really is who he says he is, we do not have to work so hard to be pleasing and beautiful. We already are. Can you imagine what it would be like to be completely accepted by the creator of the universe? To not have to clean yourself up before you come into the presence of God? How liberating would it be to have Jesus (God himself) perfectly see all your flaws and still want to wrap you up in a cosmic bear hug that removes any shame you have?

Such freedom would create a levity and humility powerful enough to make our soul fly. We will always be broken and needy people until Jesus fully crushes death and decay’s power. But we can be broken and needy rabble who are accepted, welcomed, and loved because the God of impossible standards stands in our place and holds open the door so we can hobble to him. Can you believe such acceptance is possible?