Salvation is Messy
I love to take pictures. One of the things I enjoy about Facebook is the opportunity it provides for me to post pictures I’ve taken, just because it’s fun. But as an amateur photographer I understand how getting a good picture involves framing it. The right angle, the best lighting, cropping out what doesn’t enhance are all part of the process. But here’s the thing. Such pictures don’t really provide the whole picture, so to speak. I’ve admittedly cropped out stuff, maybe used a filter for lighting, only included what I hope is impressive, not all the messy stuff to the sides.
Let’s compare that to the story of Noah and his ark in the Old Testament. Sometimes as we teach this story to our kids in Sunday school we treat it like an impressive little tale, with Noah the hero as he invites the animals, two by two, onto the ark, along with his family, to be saved from the flood. As we do so, we’ve cropped the picture somewhat. A more panoramic viewpoint would see that it involves judgment and death. We’d see the animals (7 pair of the “clean” animals, not just 2) being real animals, bellowing, making messes, stinking, needing to be fed and watered. Truth is, it was messy on that boat! Crowded and dirty, with dangers all around. But to be saved from the flood of judgment, this was where God placed Noah, his family, and the animals who were saved.
Abraham was a great man of faith, going to an unknown land as God had commanded. He would become the father of a great nation, one that would eventually provide the Savior. But zooming out for a minute we see he made his own mistakes, lived a very earthy existence as a nomad. Joseph would become a physical savior of his family in Egypt, but if you know the story you realize he had to face many undeserved hardships before he was in the place to save his family. David would be the pinnacle of kingship in Israel, but his sin with Bathsheba would impact his family and the nation for many years.
Even as Jesus comes on the scene and prepares his apostles for their work once he’s died for our sins and been resurrected back to life, the process was messy. These disciples would engage in petty squabbles, John the Baptist would question things from prison, Martha was a worrier, Thomas doubted, and Peter would deny his Lord. The TV series The Chosen does a good job of depicting such things.
People of the church today get criticized for being hypocrites, or for gossiping, or for not loving certain groups of people like they should, etc. I wish that wasn’t true, I wish all Christians lived model lives. If you have any sense of reality, you know that’s not the case. Christians are still people, subject to sin impacting them. Yes, a true Christian has the Holy Spirit within, and as they yield to the teaching of Jesus and his apostles, it guides and comforts. But many don’t take advantage of this God given resource. Others call themselves “Christian” but have no real allegiance to Christ, they just somehow inherited the name. Bottom line? It’s still messy on the boat of salvation. It can make you seasick, things can still stink, make you want to get off the boat, but please don’t. Outside the boat is a world swimming in sin, about to die and receive judgement if they don’t climb aboard.
The people on the boat of salvation don’t deserve it anymore than those flailing in the water. But God’s grace applies to them as-long-as they stay on the boat, as-long-as they cling to Jesus, following in faith.
Let’s compare that to the story of Noah and his ark in the Old Testament. Sometimes as we teach this story to our kids in Sunday school we treat it like an impressive little tale, with Noah the hero as he invites the animals, two by two, onto the ark, along with his family, to be saved from the flood. As we do so, we’ve cropped the picture somewhat. A more panoramic viewpoint would see that it involves judgment and death. We’d see the animals (7 pair of the “clean” animals, not just 2) being real animals, bellowing, making messes, stinking, needing to be fed and watered. Truth is, it was messy on that boat! Crowded and dirty, with dangers all around. But to be saved from the flood of judgment, this was where God placed Noah, his family, and the animals who were saved.
Abraham was a great man of faith, going to an unknown land as God had commanded. He would become the father of a great nation, one that would eventually provide the Savior. But zooming out for a minute we see he made his own mistakes, lived a very earthy existence as a nomad. Joseph would become a physical savior of his family in Egypt, but if you know the story you realize he had to face many undeserved hardships before he was in the place to save his family. David would be the pinnacle of kingship in Israel, but his sin with Bathsheba would impact his family and the nation for many years.
Even as Jesus comes on the scene and prepares his apostles for their work once he’s died for our sins and been resurrected back to life, the process was messy. These disciples would engage in petty squabbles, John the Baptist would question things from prison, Martha was a worrier, Thomas doubted, and Peter would deny his Lord. The TV series The Chosen does a good job of depicting such things.
People of the church today get criticized for being hypocrites, or for gossiping, or for not loving certain groups of people like they should, etc. I wish that wasn’t true, I wish all Christians lived model lives. If you have any sense of reality, you know that’s not the case. Christians are still people, subject to sin impacting them. Yes, a true Christian has the Holy Spirit within, and as they yield to the teaching of Jesus and his apostles, it guides and comforts. But many don’t take advantage of this God given resource. Others call themselves “Christian” but have no real allegiance to Christ, they just somehow inherited the name. Bottom line? It’s still messy on the boat of salvation. It can make you seasick, things can still stink, make you want to get off the boat, but please don’t. Outside the boat is a world swimming in sin, about to die and receive judgement if they don’t climb aboard.
The people on the boat of salvation don’t deserve it anymore than those flailing in the water. But God’s grace applies to them as-long-as they stay on the boat, as-long-as they cling to Jesus, following in faith.